


WIN the GAME: The BR Act

by Fuzzboy



Category: Battle Royale, Battle Royale (2000), Battle Royale (Manga), Battle Royale - All Media Types, Battle Royale - Takami Koushun, RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Crossover, Ensemble Cast, Gen, Gun Violence, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Minor Character Death, Multi, Non-Canonical Character Death, Past Character Death, Possible Character Death, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:46:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 30,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23331112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuzzboy/pseuds/Fuzzboy
Summary: Could you kill your best friend? Or your lover? Perhaps even family? Could you even take a life if you had to? To say yes to these questions is seen as a betrayal of humanity in most cases. But within the program? It's nothing more than life or death itself. And when you're in a class with forty-one other kids thinking about the same thing...It's only logical one would crack.Ever since 1947, a program known simply as the "Battle Royale Act" has gone into effect. It dictates that every six months (In April and October), a class shall be chosen to be brought to an isolated island and be forced to kill each other until only one remains. This sole survivor will be allowed to leave the island and return to their normal life. But if three days pass and a winner has not been decided, then ultimately they will all be killed.This program has done well in inspiring fear and distrust among the citizens of Vale, and as such, it has continued. With 150 successful games behind them, the time for the next Battle Royale approaches...And one can only hope for the poor souls chosen, that the games take their lives quickly. But when in the middle of a war among friends, it's bound to have some crack under the pressure.
Comments: 17
Kudos: 15





	1. Battlefield

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, and welcome to my- ...Wait I feel like I did this before...Oh, wait.
> 
> Okay, so as some of you may or may not know there is a story I was writing called "WIN the GAME", which crossed over RWBY and Battle Royale. And honestly...I have a lot of issues with it, mainly with its frankly terrible pacing and half-assed introduction to the majority of the cast. I feel like there is a lot that can be done with this sort of idea that simply wasn't used to its full effect, and thus, I wanted to give this another try. So yeah, this is a remake.
> 
> On that note, I am going to be going a lot further into the "Alternate Universe" territory here. I feel I'll still be representing both franchises accurately, but just be aware; these are not the same characters developing in the same ways. Some of them have had backstories, goals, and even names changed. Despite this, I hope those who read will enjoy it.
> 
> For those worried about missing out for...Some reason, I left the story up in its original version on the Fanfiction account, "FuzzboyAlternative", which I'll now be using as my dumping ground for old work. With that said, I have a lot of work to do to catch up to where I originally was, so...Time to get started.

Silence rang out across the small battlefield, the only semblance of life radiating off the fresh corpses spread out across the mud, as flies and rats feasted on their bodies. Most were close to unrecognizable, their once youthful faces and endless bounds of energy long gone, and instead replaced by realized horrors, with their bodies now mutilated beyond comprehension. And as the rain began to pour, the blood only grew thicker and washed further into the shredded landscape.

However, one soul stood out from the rest, laying on top of a small hill, as she let out short-lived screams, one after the other, while swinging down her hand. Her raven black hair was covered in carrion, the supple flesh trapped between her strands of hair, though some managed to slip off and land atop her pale skin, her shredded clothes giving way to her mostly exposed body. In most situations, she'd be quite a sight, but in such a place as this, she gave off a different impression. One of a ravenous beast, more animal than human.

In her hand was a dull blade attached to wood, perhaps some sort of antique hatchet. It was dull and had rusted far beyond it's prime, and yet with each sloppy chop, flesh flew through the air, and crimson was left indented into the creases and tears in the metal. The body below the girl stood out amongst the greys and browns around her, with her platinum blonde hair, bright snowflake skin, and her once angelic beauty. But now, as the axe embedded itself into her forehead, it became clear that the once grand sight had been reduced the pungent mess.

With each swing, the speed slumped more and more, as the beast began to lose her spirit. Soon, she came to a stop and simply stared down at her hacked up prey. If the body had been investigated, most would assume a bear had done the handiwork before that of a mere human. Certainly, no rational being could do such a thing, correct? And yet here they were, the battle over, a victor decided, and a body mutilated, and sure enough...The beast was human. If barely.

As she stared down though, her mouth began to shape itself into a disfigured grin, her chipped teeth and puffy red eyes transforming her into something far beyond our reality. And in one swift motion, horrid laughter burst forth from her frail form, the rhythm of each chortle becoming more course and forced by the moment. Tears ran down her face like waterfalls, each convulsion physically straining every muscle in her mouth as she shook in place. Saying she was in pain felt wrong. _It_ appeared to be far beyond pain by this point, or even just emotion. Perhaps this was nothing more than instinct...

The human mind can break so easily if given just enough tension.

* * *

The lighter twitched as it sparked to life, a flame forming in the cupped hand, which rose to lit a cigarette hanging from the man's mouth. Taking a drag off it, a smirk formed on his face, as he pressed down on the pause button of his remote. He loved rewatching that footage. The footage of girl number five and her infamous dark horse victory over Salem Grimm. A classic if there ever was one. If only he had gotten to see it in person...Then again, he was probably around eight when this was filmed, but nonetheless, Roman Torchwick couldn't help but dream.

It was sometimes hard for him to believe how long this game had been going. Over a hundred and fifty games since 1947. An impressive number to be sure, and he had gotten the honor of hosting over fifteen of them now, with the upcoming one being his sixteenth. He had sent so many children to die for their country, to prove they _deserved_ to live, and despite that, he had never lost a wink of sleep. He had even earned a nickname from the dark web for this; "Charon", also known as the ferryman of Hades. Perfection.

Standing up from the worn-out seat, he looked across the room. Soldiers, at least two dozen of 'em, some going about their duties while others simply played poker in the back of the room under a single hanging lightbulb. Most of them were nothing more than brutes, perhaps the worst the military had to offer, but then again you had to be a little on the strange side in order to handle this sort of work. Unless you were a Torchwick of course. They were just naturally perfect for any position after all.

Roman walked up behind one of the soldiers, one of the few in the room who appeared to have an IQ over ninety, as he typed away at a computer. A wicked smirk spread across his face, as Roman leaned down and asked, "So, we got our next batch, yet?"

"The computer's still deciding, s-sir," the soldier choked out, his lips quivering as he watched the screen in stunted fear. Quite an amusing sight to be sure.

Soon enough though, text appeared sprawled across the screen, and Roman couldn't help but feel a sadistic twinge of glee as he saw what it said. "Well...If that's not a pleasant surprise, I don't know what is...Guess I'm gonna see that old spitfire a little sooner than I had thought." He patted the soldier's shoulder, his grin having grown substantially, "Good work. Now, inform Neo of the chosen class. Preparations are in order!"

The soldier got to work as soon as he was ordered, standing up from his seat and racing toward the nearby phone on the wall. Meanwhile, Roman couldn't help but chuckle under his breath, the cigarette hanging loosely off his lip as he turned to stare out the window. To stare out at the island that had been used so many times. That had claimed so many lives...An island of death. Of torture. Of blood. Truly, it was quite the battlefield. The perfect place for war! And during a war...You _always_ show your _true_ self.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah...If it wasn't obvious, this story is gonna be a lot different from our last attempt at this. Buckle up, cause there ain't no brakes on this rollercoaster of emotions...Wow, that sounded so fucking dumb- ANYWAYS, unlike before chapters here are gonna be relatively short (about 1K to 5K), with each one focusing on an overall narrative, and not just a bunch of barely connected scenes getting crammed together. In my opinion, that'll greatly fix the pacing, and likely make people a lot more interested in the characters.
> 
> Anyways, with that said...Ciao.


	2. Destiny Awaits

_Rain pattered against the wooden roof above, the occasional drop leaking through and hitting the floor with a splash. Staring forward with hardened eyes, a young lady watched every move the figure across from her made. The target of her eye? A woman, at least in her late thirties, with eyes as cold as steel and yet as bright as an evening sunrise. Scarlet red. The color of victory...And death. And on this cold afternoon, her pale, moon-like skin almost sparkled among the barely notable light that peered through the cracks in the window nearby. With those eyes and her raven black hair, she almost appeared otherworldly. Sorta like a demon in a way._

_Some upon spotting her would likely turn and run. Others would simply watch on in timid interest. And yet here this girl was, staring her down and unmoving, demanding her attention, as the woman continued to give her none. The girl was her polar opposite in appearance; tan, golden locks of long curly hair, violet eyes that seemed fragile compared to hers, and a nice curved body compared to her scarred, skinny one. A sight to be sure, one most would deem a little mature for her age, which was no older than eighteen._

_She was Yang Xiao Long, and across from her laid her mother. Raven Xiao Long, or as the locals often called her, "the demon". She had practically become a legend at this point, and with how rarely she left her house, it had become the accepted truth of her existence. No more than a ghost story to keep kids from wandering too close, which the kids kept expanding upon. Ask one and they'd say she could tear you in two with a single glare. Ask another and they'd claim she kidnapped children and turned them into lotion. Regardless, the truth resonated across all stories._

_Leave the woman alone. But here Yang was, staring her down and not moving an inch, awaiting the answer she had asked her..._

" _...Where were you when I needed you most?"_

* * *

Yang Xiao Long stared out the window in mild disinterest, her eyes fluttering open and shut with each passing moment. She was sitting in a bus, and not one of those dusty, rather unsettling school buses. Instead, it seemed...Pristine almost. As if it was too good for people coming from _this_ school. Practically top of the line stuff. And yet here she was, not only inside it but going all the way to a freaking amusement park in it.

Out of nowhere a week ago, permission slips were sent out to select students, saying they had been invited to attend a "special" event, to celebrate the fact they would be graduating in a month. It was a three-day vacation to Disney World basically. It would take eight hours to get there from Beacon, and they'd have to pass through some mountains out in the middle of nowhere along the way. And while he had been a _little_ apprehensive about the whole thing, her dad reluctantly allowed her and her sister to go...Speaking of-

"Yang, did you see that!" A hand brushed by her face, pointing out the window excitedly as a high-pitched voice squeaked out, "That goat! Oh my gosh, that thing was so _cool_ looking! You certainly don't see _those_ back home."

Ruby...Her little sister. Technically, she was only sixteen, and yet she had gotten to skip a grade along the way and was now in the same one as Yang was. Outside of skipping preschool and attending kindergarten early, she had also skipped eighth grade entirely. And why was that? Well... _Technically_ , her sister is a sort of prodigy. She's not a genius or anything, but for some reason when she was actually _interested_ in something (for instance...Weapons, ancient history, war tactics, cookies, stuff like that), she could practically write a book on the topic by the end of the day. The girl has a head brimming with creativity and ideas.

...And guess who has to be the one to always hear her go on about them.

With a chuckle, Yang pushed down her sister's arm while turning toward her with a smile. "Yes, Ruby, I saw the goat. Not really much to do on a bus other than look out a window after all."

Her sister nonetheless retained her energy as she giddily jumped in her seat, mumbling incoherent nonsense to herself as Yang looked over her features. Unlike her, Ruby had short, black hair with greyish eyes, and was _super_ short. Only just over five feet tall, while Yang herself was pretty close to six feet. They looked completely unrelated...And technically they only _kinda_ were, since they had separate moms, but still, Yang thought the world of her...Even if she could be a little annoying at times.

" _Oh my gosh,_ Yang, that one was even bigger!" Yep...Annoying.

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos couldn't help but look away in disgust as her seatmate threw up into a brown bag, her eyes squeezing shut as his violent gagging grew louder in louder. Though eventually, after a few moments had passed, tense, heavy breathing replaced the vomiting, as he threw his head back against the seat. And as soon as this had happened, Pyrrha let out a sigh of relief under her breath, before turning to him with a smile. "I...Did warn you to not have too big of a breakfast today, Jaune."

"Y-Yeah, I know…" he grumbled out, rubbing his stomach in pain as he held the disgusting, leaking bag in his left hand. He looked down at it with sinking eyes, before groaning, "Man, what am I gonna do with this now?"

"You may have to just...Keep it on you until we get to the resort, Jaune," Pyrrha answered.

This response quickly caused the boy to pale, as he frantically shook his head and looked between her and the bag, "W-What?! But that won't be for hours! Man, I don't wanna have to hold _this_ the whole time!" Pyrrha couldn't help but chuckle a bit at his response, looking him over rather awkwardly. While some of her classmates would likely disagree, Jaune was a pretty fellow. Narrow face, a mop of blonde hair, those wonderful azure eyes-

As soon as she realized what she was thinking though, Pyrrha turned away, as her face began to turn a deep red color.

"Ha, sucks to be you!" A voice called out from behind them. Turning to look up at the girl now resting her body against Pyrrha's seat, she couldn't help but smile awkwardly at the sight of a girl with wild, bright orange hair. She also had arms that were _quite_ muscular, though her body itself seemed just a little chubby. Nothing noticeable of course, but it was there, though most would never even pay attention to that. If anything, if they were to look at anything around that area, they'd probably rather turn their attention to her rather... _Large_ assets, both in the front and in the back.

Nora reached forward and poked Jaune in the seat while laughing giddily, before saying, "But you know, you could just toss it out the window-"

"The windows don't open, Nora," another voice muttered, this one far more reserved and calm in comparison. The boy, who was quite muscular despite his skinny frame, and rather tall as well, simply sat in his seat and read his book in comparative silence.

Expectingly, Nora pouted at his answer, quickly saying, "Oh come on, Ren, did you have to ruin my idea that quickly?" In response, he simply smiled to himself, as she slumped back into her seat, "Party pooper."

Shaking his head in utter misery, Jaune looked down at the bag in silence, only to rise upon feeling a hand land on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Pyrrha giving him a worried look, before asking, "Jaune...What's wrong? You usually don't get like this."

Jaune desperately wanted to lie to her about what he was feeling, but one look in her eyes was all it took to confirm that even if he were to lie, she would be able to tell. Pyrrha was his best friend. Knew more about him than even _he_ did sometimes. So...Really no point in avoiding the truth. "I just...I have a bad feeling. This whole thing feels weird."

Pyrrha couldn't help but narrow her eyes into a frown. "Yes...Yes, I've had a similar feeling myself…"

"Man, you two are such worrywarts!" Nora once more spoke up, before saying, "Just relax! That's what this whole thing is for anyways. Not doing that just defeats the whole purpose!"

Pyrrha and Jaune couldn't help but remain stunned for a moment at her words, though eventually, the latter let out a small chuckle, forming a half-smile as he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah...Yeah, you're right. My bad, guys."

As he continued to laugh at himself, Pyrrha forced a smile of her own, though she couldn't help but allow her mind to linger on the comment he had made.

* * *

Coco Adel stared ahead boredly, her chocolate-brown eyes being covered by a pair of shaded glasses, while she chewed down on a piece of bubblegum passively. Beside her, Fox Alistair, whose eyes were similarly covered by glasses, though his were completely pitch black, just tapped his cane against the floor. After a moment, he pulled something out of his pocket and flipped it open; a gold-plated pocket watch with an engraving of a fox on its lid. Coco stared down at it for a moment, grinding her teeth as she shook her head. "Crap...We've only been in this tin can for an hour? Felt like a lot longer."

"Time can be like that," Fox mused, a smile on his face as he closed the lid and put the watch away, "passes in a way that certainly can feel a little inconsistent."

Coco couldn't help but scoff under her breath, shaking her head in mild frustration. "Least you don't have to _see_ how long this stuff takes. Bet time doesn't even matter to you much."

His response was to simply give her a coy look, his typical cocky smirk placed firmly on that stupid face of his. "Not outside of bed...At least, when I don't have someone over." Bastard loved rubbing it in Coco's face how much more he gets laid than her, and he's _blind_.

Granted, she couldn't really be blamed for this fact. As many at the school already knew, Coco didn't exactly swing straight. Quite the opposite really, considering she could barely stand most guys. The only issue was that she was basically the _only_ girl who was completely out of the closet. Sure, there were others, and when they got a good look at her and her top of the line fashion sense...Well, it was hard to keep them away for sure, but in terms of actually _finding_ them, sometimes it could be quite the struggle. But despite that, she still had a few people she had her suspicions of…

One of which was walking toward her right now.

Wandering through the middle of the bus with a meek look on her face, a pale girl with brown hair walked up to her, the awkward yet adorable look immediately sending Coco into a sort of inner frenzy. Velvet Scarlatina...Cutest damn girl Coco had ever seen to be sure, with those perfect rounded cheeks, that simple yet charming body, and _God_ the way she walked...Certainly made keeping herself under control difficult at times. Still though, Coco maintained her composure, as the girl walked up to her. "Hey Coco...How're you?"

Quickly, Coco threw on the most confident smile she could, tipping her glasses down as well to stare Velvet in the eyes, "Certainly doing a lot better now that you're around." Velvet quickly turned a shade of pink at this, as Coco chuckled and leaned back, taking a moment to notice her camera. "What're you doing? Taking pictures or something?"

"Y-Yes!" She quickly answered, forcing a shaky grin soon after, "F-For the yearbook...D-Don't want this trip to be excluded…"

Coco hummed at this...Before smirking as an idea came to her. "Really now? How about you take a picture of me and Fox 'ere?" Fox didn't respond to this, though did smile upon realizing what she was doing.

Velvet, seemingly not getting the point of the idea, "Y-Yeah, that sounds...Nice!" Giggling in awkward dismay, she held up the camera, "S-Smile!" She couldn't help but clasp her eyes shut as she took the picture, not wanting to focus too much on the girl, as the flash went off. As soon as it did though, she walked away as fast as she could, squirming out a soft, "T-Thank you, goodbye now!"

She swore she could hear the two laughing as she walked off. Looking down, she pulled the new photo out from the camera and shook it around. After a moment, it formed the image, and she looked it over...Only to begin blushing as bright as a tomato as she noticed the rather lewd gesture Coco was making at the camera with her fingers and tongue.

* * *

Weiss Schnee, the ever proper girl she was, stared out the window in impatience as an arm wrapped around her. Her body shook from the arm, but she didn't dare to stare the boy who was doing so in the eye. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of the whole ordeal.

Soon though, she found herself hearing him say, "Oh come on, Weiss, you can't _still_ be mad at me." With a snarl, she folded her arms and focused even harder on staring out, not daring to look back at him. "Look, I said I was sorry-"

"Sorry," Weiss' eyes widened in utter fury, pushing the arm off her as she turned toward the boy. Admittedly...He was quite handsome, with a well-sculpted face and muscular body, most likely due to being on the football team, "you don't _get_ to be sorry. I saw what you were doing with Octavia, Neptune."

Neptune flinched back at this, holding his arms up in defense, as he said, "L-Look, it was just a big misunderstanding, babe. We weren't doing nothing-"

"I _saw_ it! So stop lying to me," Weiss growled, before standing up from her seat and pushing past him, "and until you _realize_ what you did, I refuse to speak to you."

"Weiss, wait," he screamed, though she ignored him, already walking down the aisle toward another seat. The boy stared on, though eventually rolled his eyes and fell back into his seat, facepalming as he lowered his head. "Crap...I fucked up big this time."

"Yeah, good luck getting outta this one buddy," another voice signaled off across from him. Looking up, he saw two of his closest friends staring at him with those big, cheeky grins of theirs. Stupid Sun and Scarlet and their meddling in his business.

"Honestly, if I were you, I'd take the hint and realize she's too good for you anyways," the latter added on, his thick British accent waving each word into a type of poetry too complex for Neptune's mind.

As such, Neptune looked off to the side, snarking back in his infinite wisdom, "Ah, shut up, Scarlet." Nailed it. He then turned his gaze back toward Weiss, who had begun to strike up a conversation with Ruby up ahead. He narrowed his eyes into a glare. He'd get her back...He knew he would.

As he thought this though, he noticed something begin to pass the bus. A jeep...Filled to the brim with soldiers?

* * *

Yang Xiao Long stood up from her seat in slight confusion as she stared out the window. Driving past them were several pairs of army jeeps, each filled with at least a half dozen soldiers, and in their hands rather hefty looking guns as long as her arms. They stared down the bus with narrowed eyes, their teeth grinding together and their bodies tense, as if prepared to begin unloading on the bus at the slightest provocation. For a moment, she could even feel herself make contact with one of them, and when they looked back, she could feel her heart almost stop from the pressure of his glare.

As she thought this though, she could briefly hear the sound of hissing from the ceiling. She looked up in a fright, as smoke began to quickly fill the bus. In an instant, Yang felt her entire body become heavy, and her eyes began to droop. It...It felt as if all of her energy had been sapped away. As if she hadn't slept or eaten anything in days. "W-What's...What's going…"

And just like that...Yang fell backward into her seat, and the rest of her class began to follow. Within seconds, just about the entire class had found themselves slumped into where they had been sitting without any choice in the manner. Despite this, some lingered.

Pyrrha Nikos smashed her fist as hard as she could against the window, over and over again, each time getting more and more desperate. With her heart racing and eyes wide, she mumbled to herself, "No, no, no, no, no, please God no. Not again, not again, I beg you...I beg you...P-Please...I-I...I-I b-beg y-youuuuu…"

With that, Pyrrha's legs collapsed out from under her, as she fell against the rim of the seat in front of her, holding onto it for support, as she tried with all her heart to force herself up. She...She couldn't...Not now...Not after all she had gone through just to fit in at this school. She looked around the buss in pure horror and desperation, hoping to see _anyone_ who was sharing her thoughts...Only for her eyes to land on the only other person to awake.

Blake Belladonna...A girl with hair as black as charcoal and eyes as yellow as a cat's. Perhaps the only person in the entire class who Pyrrha had _never_ spoken to. And yet with how Blake was staring at her, with those piercing eyes and the oh so hateful scowl, you'd swear the two were mortal enemies. But these thoughts disappeared as soon as Blake fell forward. And moments later...Pyrrha followed.

* * *

Roman Torchwick couldn't help but smirk as he got off the phone with the driver, placing it down as he leaned back in his chair. After a moment, he said, "Walter," a skinny, impish looking soldier walked up to the captain with a low growl, "would you hand me the student details for this class? I'd like to know what I'm dealing with."

Begrudgingly, the soldier handed him the file with narrowed eyes, before walking away with a slight limp. Scoffing under his breath, Roman continued to smile as he looked down at the file in interest. "Yes...Yes, this class will do _very_ nicely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BEACON High School - Grade 12 / Class 1-B - Student Roster  
> Boys: 21 - Girls: 21 - Total: 42.  
> No need for executions of additional students.
> 
> STUDENT ROSTER DETAILS
> 
> Male Student #1. Scarlet David.  
> Female Student #1. Alice "Arslan" Altan.  
> Male Student #2. Nadir Shiko.  
> Female Student #2. Emerald Sustrai.  
> Male Student #3. James Ivori.  
> Female Student #3. Reese Chloris.  
> Male Student #4. Lie Ren.  
> Female Student #4. Gwen Darcy.  
> Male Student #5. Sonny "Sun" Wukane.  
> Female Student #5. Nevaeh "Nebula" Violette.  
> Male Student #6. Nolan Porfirio.  
> Female Student #6. Darcy "Dew" Gayl.  
> Male Student #7. Sky Lark.  
> Female Student #7. Velvet Scarlatina.  
> Male Student #8. Brick "Brawnz" Ni.  
> Female Student #8. May Zedong.  
> Male Student #9. Yatsuhashi Daichi.  
> Female Student #9. Blake Belladonna.  
> Male Student #10. Sage Ayana.  
> Female Student #10. Penny Polendina.  
> Male Student #11. Dove Bronze.  
> Female Student #11. Katrina "Neon" Nazura.  
> Male Student #12. Russel Thrush.  
> Female Student #12. Nora Valkyrie.  
> Male Student #13. Bolin Hori.  
> Female Student #13. Yang Xiao Long.  
> Male Student #14. Falkner "Fox" Alistair.  
> Female Student #14. Octavia Ember.  
> Male Student #15. Kobe "Kobalt" Wicket.  
> Female Student #15. Ruby Xiao Long.  
> Male Student #16. Flynt Coal.  
> Female Student #16. Ilia Amitola.  
> Male Student #17. Cardin Winchester.  
> Female Student #17. Ciel Soleil.  
> Male Student #18. Jaune Arc.  
> Female Student #18. Cinder Fall.  
> Male Student #19. Roy Stallion.  
> Female Student #19. Weiss Schnee.  
> Male Student #20. Neptune Vasilias.  
> Female Student #20. Coco Adel.  
> Male Student #21. Mateo "Mercury" Black.  
> Female Student #21. Pyrrha Nikos. (Special Interest)
> 
> 42 students remain.  
> Betting begins at $100.


	3. Awakening in Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DESK ORDER
> 
> Row #1: S. David, A. Altan, N. Shiko, E. Sustrai, J. Ivori, R. Chloris, L. Ren.  
> Row #2: G. Darcy, S. Wukane, N. Violette, N. Porfirio, D. Gayl, S. Lark, V. Scarlatina.  
> Row #3: B. Ni, M. Zedong, Y. Daichi, B. Belladonna, S. Ayana, P. Polendina, D. Bronze.  
> Row #4: K. Nazura, R. Thrush, N. Valkyrie, B. Hori, Y. Xiao Long, F. Alistair, O. Ember.  
> Row #5: K. Wicket, R. Xiao Long, F. Coal, I. Amitola, C. Winchester, C. Soleil, J. Arc.  
> Row #6: C. Fall, R. Stallion, W. Schnee, N. Vasilias, C. Adel, M. Black, P. Nikos.

Many things usually follow waking up with a bad headache. Usually, if you're an older gentleman, it'd be due to a hangover, an unfortunate side effect of a night of fun and debauchery. When you're younger though...It usually meant the same thing, but about ten times worse. And if you were to ask Neptune Vasilias how he was feeling at this very moment, he would more than definitely say if this headache of his felt like _anything_ , it felt like a _bad_ hangover.

With fluttering eyes and a groan, Neptune rose up from what he had been lying on in a stir, rubbing at his head as he mumbled sweet nothings to himself. Eventually, his eyes began to open as he said under his breath, "Man, the Hell did I do to deserve this crap-"

And just like that, his face paled and his arms grew heavy as he realized where he was. He was in a classroom, and an old, abandoned one at that, with cracks running down the walls, the paint chipping off, and barred windows that gave off a vibe more similar to a prison than a classroom. And sprawled out across the room was a multitude of wooden desks...Each of which had one of his classmates, most of which were still asleep. In fact, Neptune just noticed himself he had been sitting at a desk as well. How the Hell did he get here? Where the Hell were they?

And why did he feel like he was being strangled?

Looking down at his throat, he felt his face pale as he realized that, wrapped around his throat, was some sorta black metal collar. It was tight and confined, and oh _God_ was it uncomfortable. The thing was practically open his throat from how it felt. Would probably leave a nasty scar when he got the thing off. He reached up and gripped onto it, flinching from cold steel, and began to tug on it-

" _Wait!"_

He jumped at the voice, instinctively letting go and turning toward it, only to realize that three desks to his right, Pyrrha Nikos was staring at him with wide eyes, her body shaking from head to toe in fear. "D-Don't pull on the collars...Please. It won't end well."

"What-"

"Just don't do it!" She screamed out, her voice traveling across the classroom and catching everyone's attention. As all eyes landed firmly on her, she once again said, "Do _not_ touch the collars!"

Mumbles of confusion began to rise throughout the class, as Neptune felt him swallow his own pride and lay in his seat in silence. What was going on? Why was he here? And God...How out of his depth was he?

* * *

More often than not, Roy Stallion felt like he was a background character in his _own_ life. Nothing exciting usually happened to him at all, and among the strange personalities of his class, he faded into the background, and for the most part, ended up completely forgotten in the process. Among the class, he didn't really have anyone he could call a "friend" and never did anything to stand out either. He was...Forgettable. Which is why he had always hoped that something, _anything_ abnormal would happen to him.

This was definitely _not what he meant!_ A cold sweat ran down the side of his head, as he tried desperately to ignore the collar wrapped around his throat, and turned his attention towards the only thing in the entire class; the front of the classroom, where a chalkboard and long wooden desk stood in silence, alongside the door on the far right side that seemed to lead out to some darkened hallway.

That is until the door slammed open with a kick.

Within moments, over a dozen armed soldiers walked inside the room, each wearing a gas mask that completely obscured their faces. They came to a stop at the front of the class, six on both sides of the chalkboard, staring forward and not saying a word, though their grip on their guns remained steady, and their posture stood as straight as a board. They stood in silence for what felt like seconds, then minutes, then hours, never moving an inch, and each second, their presence only grew more intense as nobody dared to speak up against them. Roy could even swear they had turned to look at him specifically at one point, which was ridiculous of course, but...Still.

Soon though, another figure walked into the room, and unlike the guards, he stood out like a sore thumb. He had vibrant, bright orange hair that stood out compared to his snow-white tuxedo. He looked young. Not like a child mind-you, but for an adult, he certainly didn't look past thirty. And yet, despite this, Roy couldn't help but feel more intimidated by his presence than he had by any of the guards. And if he had to nail down why...It'd be the eyes. Those black, soulless eyes that held no emotion at all, completely betraying his wicked grin.

He came to a stop at the center of the chalkboard, smashing down his wooden cane and causing a violent eruption of sound to spread across the class. He smirked at our confusion with notable sadism. "Great, you're all awake now. Certainly took you all long enough, we've been waiting for hours by this point. Now, we can finally get started with the _actual_ activity we've brought you all here for."

Roy watched the strange man pick up the chalk off the desk, and flash the class a smile. "You see, I'm Mister Torchwick, and I'll be your instructor for this grand game of ours. Don't worry about memorizing it though. I'll be rid of you lot shortly." Roy felt a small drop of sweat run down the side of his face at his words, as Torchwick began to write something on the chalkboard. It was three simple words...Three simply horrifying, disturbing words, that caused every student in that class to instantly have their blood run cold. Torchwick turned back to the class, his grin having grown...Before asking, "Now...Does anyone recognize what these words mean?" And while no answer came...Roy knew for a fact that everyone there knew _exactly_ what this was now…

Written on the chalkboard in large, bold letters...Was **The BR Act**...Battle Royale. The infamous program...They were in it. They had been chosen...They had…

"Glad to see you all do...No need for as much explanation then," Torchwick added on, an oddly sincere smile on his face. "Well then, time to move on-"

" _W-Wait just a moment!"_

Roy and the rest of the class turned their attention toward the voice, and sure enough, standing up from her desk, tears now running down her face...Was Weiss Schnee, the student directly to his right. The richest girl in school, coming from the famous Schnee family, who were very close with the government due to her father being some sort of weapons manufacturer. She had never been particularly popular with the class, and yet right now, nobody could turn away, as she of all people stared down their soon-to-be tormenter with razor-sharp attitude and determination.

"M-My father...H-He works with the government! He works for you! He builds those monsterous weapons of yours!" She screamed, her voice ringing out like a bell, as each word slipped out like they were soaked in venom. "We shouldn't be here! My father would _never_ allow us to be sent...Sent to this _execution ring_ you have going on! You have the wrong class!"

Torchwick and the soldiers remained silent, though the former certainly did glance at one of them in an annoyed manner. After a moment, he simply said, "I'm guessing you're the Schnee daughter, yes? Well...I'm sorry to say...But your social class, and who happened to birth you...Well, they don't mean _shit_ here." And in an instant, all her confidence was drained away. "Do you know how many government children we've sent to their deaths in this game? Hundreds. Literal _hundreds_. We don't give a damn _who_ the fuck we kill off! All that matters is we keep making an example of you little shits. Show this damned country of yours that _we're_ in control, and that we're not ones to be _fucked with!"_

His words, they grew more violent with every second, and eventually, in the corners of Roy's eye, he saw the man pull out a slick, black revolver, and raise it up into the air, as he trained the sight onto the middle of Weiss' forehead. She went silent, and he simply stared on...Before letting out a chuckle. A short, though devestatingly blunt one, as he lowered the gun and covered his face. "Schnee...You're lucky we have a little extra time today. Otherwise, I wouldn't be this forgiving. Just be happy you didn't just be made into an example."

Weiss whimpered where she stood, as she lowered herself into her seat, before beginning to cry into her hands. Roy could make out that the boy next to her, Neptune, simply stared in horror. He attempted to reach out to her...Only to pull his arm back, and stare down at his desk in frozen reluctance.

* * *

Jaune Arc watched helplessly from the row ahead as he watched Weiss slump into her seat and burst into tears. Desperately he wanted to run over to her and engulf her in a hug. To tell her that everything would be alright. That she was going to be okay and-

...And so many other lies.

They were in the program. Didn't matter what he said, that much was still true. There were forty-two of them in this class, and soon...There would be only one left. One survivor of the lot of 'em. There had been a hundred and fifty of these damned games in the past and every single time that was always the final result. No escape attempt had ever succeeded. No deaths left unaccounted for. No chance of breaking this horrid system and watching it crumble. It was impossible.

"Anyways," Torchwick starts again, putting away his revolver and returning to his former smile, "before I was interrupted, I was going to say this. As you all know, you will all soon be sent out of this classroom. And, by the end of the next three days...Either there will be only one survivor, or there will be none. Survival of the fittest! Kill or be killed!" He let out a laugh, before continuing, "And if you survive, you'll be given a generous sum of money as a reward, and be allowed to return to your old life."

Jaune felt his fists clench and his face harden at his words. This sick bastard...What? Is that supposed to be an incentive? Sure, kill all your fucking friends and you get a big wad of cash! Knowing the government it couldn't be more than a couple grand. Maybe help you out with rent for a couple of months at most. Was that worth the murder? The fact that you had killed off everyone you had known and loved in the process?!

No...No it wasn't worth shit. And Jaune desperately wanted to run up and call him out on his shit! ...But he had a gun. And he almost just shot Weiss. Something told him that if he did that, then...Then he probably wouldn't mind a little bloodshed.

Jaune's eyes slowly hovered to the top right corner of the room, where he could make out one of his closest friends, who seemingly hadn't moved the entire time. Wasn't even reacting to anything with the exception of a cold scowl that remained firmly planted on his face. Lie Ren...God, what was he thinking right now? Jaune and Ren had always been close, but he had never really figured out how his head worked. A little too opposite in terms of personality. But right now, above all else, while hearing all this shit...Jaune just wanted to know how he felt. If he was okay? Were any of them going to be okay-

"Now, to move on from that," Torchwick announced, "I have something important to go over. A time limit. As always, the maximum amount of time we'll allow for this game is three days. Seventy-two straight hours. I'm afraid to say that if by the end of that time, we have no winner...Then you all lose. And when you lose in _this_ game. We'll...You die. Simple as that. Which is what those handy dandy collars are for."

Everyone seemed to instinctively either touch or look down at their own collar. "Ah, ah, ah! No touchy! Fiddle with them too hard, and...Well," as Torchwick said this, he pulled another collar out of his pocket, placing it on the desk and pulling out his remote. "Best to give an example."

He pressed down on a button. The collar began to bleep, a red light illuminating from it. It continued to beep, over and over again, picking up speed rapidly as everybody's eyes were left trained on the small device. It soon began to shake around, becoming faster and faster by the moment, before-

 _Boom_. It exploded. It wasn't large by any means, not much of a blast. But God, what it lacked in size it did _not_ lack in power. The wooden desk...Practically split in two down the middle, what little hanging on being more due to blind luck than anything resembling structural integrity. And as Jaune looked on, he thought about what it'd look like if it went off on his head…

_Blood splattered against the ground as the collar went off, shrapnel flying out from it like bullets and tears through his head like butter. His jaw was torn in two, and his eyes burst into a spray of thickened viscera. His hand twitched the explosion, as the rest of his body managed to stand for just a moment more, before collapsing into the mud. Jaune Arc...There one moment, gone the next. No time for goodbyes._

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos watched as Jaune violently vomited onto his desk, his eyes now full of tears as he wheezed and jittered in fear. Torchwick narrowed his eyes at the boy, screaming, "Oh for the love of- Have some goddamn _pride_ kid!" With a groan and a shake of his head, he turned away from the timid boy. Poor Jaune...He's so scared. And she couldn't blame him. Not for one moment.

"Anyways, these collars will be our way of making sure you don't go somewhere you shouldn't. They're linked up with microphones, tracking devices, a speaker for me, and of course, a bomb," Torchwick said, a smile returning to his face, "they're also water and shockproof, so don't go getting ideas. Anyways, if the three days run out, and there's no winner, then we'll activate all the collars. But to add onto that, just to limit pacifism," he stared the kids down, "if you go a full twenty-four hours without _somebody_ having died, then we'll activate them anyways. So don't get lazy."

Pyrrha simply nodded around solemnly. She knew all this well already…

"The collars have one bonus function, of course," Torchwick continued, "you see, every six hours, at six and twelve, I will come onto the speakers, and announce who has died from your class. Along with that, I'll be announcing dead zones," he took the chalk and drew a medium-sized, off-path circle in the middle of the chalkboard, "this is the island. And it's been divided up into zones. When one is determined to be a dead zone, you can no longer enter it. Do so, and the collar activates instantly."

"Now, you may be wondering how you'll _know_ whether you're near a dead zone or not," Pyrrha scowled at his words, "well, worry not! For you see, when we send each of you out, we'll be giving each of you your bags back. Inside them, we've added some goodies, including a map, a compass, a flashlight, a half-dozen water bottles, a couple of MREs, some bandages and disinfectant, and of course...Your designated weapon."

"Each of you has been given a randomly selected weapon. They can range from something actually _useful_ like a pistol to a mere sword to something as worthless as a fork, to something even _more_ useful, like a paper fan! _That_ one was a favorite of mine!" He chuckled, pulling out his pistol once more, disturbingly sharp fire axe, "So good luck to all you kids! But just so you know, we _have_ given the girls a _bit_ of an advantage in terms of the randomizer. Made it so they're more likely to get the good shit. Don't worry, boys, I have faith in all of you!"

He's taunting us. Pyrrha knows that much. She knew his patterns well already. His so-called 'tricks'. The way he works. What a sadistic, cruel man, no love for anybody but himself. Despicable in every sense of the word. She continued to stare him down with a sort of robotic mentality...Until he turned towards her. She felt her blood run cold with his smile.

"Also...It's nice to see you again, my little spitfire…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PREPARATIONS: ENDPOINT.  
> BEGINNING ACT I.


	4. Exit...Stage Right

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm back from a brief break. Time to get back to this!
> 
> Before I continue, I just wanna say that if you're actively reading this story, please leave a review. They're always helpful and go a long way in supporting me. AND just to add a little spice into the mix to intrigue people into asking questions, I will now be implementing a Q&A styled system!
> 
> Basically, ask either me or one of the 42 students / Roman Torchwick a question. It can be literally anything! And then an answer will be given based on the perspective of the person/character.
> 
> Now, with that said, let's get this story on the road!

"Now, since the explanations are out of the way," Torchwick soon continued, a grin plastered across his face, "how about we get this show on the road!" With that, he held up his hand and snapped his fingers, as the door slammed open once more. A pair of soldiers proceeded to roll in a small cart of backpacks. "You'll all be exiting the class in two-minute intervals, and we'll be going in the order of your class roster numbers."

Almost instantly, Scarlet David felt himself swallow his pride, as a shiver ran down his back. If that was how it worked, then-

"Boy number one! Scarlet David!"

...Yep.

With a heavy breath, Scarlet stood up from his seat, a wary scowl on his face as he approached the front of the class. One of the soldiers tossed him his bag, which he barely managed to catch without stumbling over from its sheer weight. He took a moment to look back at his classmates, desperate to keep in his own fear, as they watched on in silence. He wanted to say something... _Anything_. Perhaps something profound. Something inspirational even.

Instead, he simply held up a peace sign, and with a soft smile, muttered, "Ciao." And just like that, he took off down the hall and ran straight out of the building.

* * *

**42 STUDENTS REMAINING!**

* * *

Scarlet David's head ran wild with confusion as he found himself running straight into a thick brush of jungle, rain pouring down onto him as he climbed up the hill right beside the school, before instantly taking cover behind it. His breathing grew heavy as he held onto his chest, his hands shaking violently in fear. Slowly, his breathing steadied, as he allowed the rainwater to soak into his skin, while mumbling, "Get it together, Scarlet...Get it together..."

With a shake of his head, he combed back his hair with a hand, before looking down at the bag cupped under his arm. Warily, he pulled it off him and unzipped it, and sure enough, everything that had been promised was there; food, water, a map that had the student roster on the back, bandages, etc. Though one thing stood out in particular in his bag. It was some kind of long, wooden bow, which had a sort of red and black pattern going down it. Alongside it in the bag was about a dozen arrows.

Scarlet's face quickly morphed into a scowl. Of course, the weapon he got was something he had no idea how to use. Just his luck. It didn't help just how _massive_ the thing was. Sure it looked light and all, but people could probably see this thing from a mile away, if not from the color, for the fact that it was easily half the size of his body in terms of height. He took a moment to stand up, holding out the bow like a weapon, only to groan a little. "Should have taken archery."

**Male Student #01: Scarlet David. Designated Weapon: Yumi Bow, with 12 Arrows.**

"No, you should have stayed quiet."

With a jump, Scarlet turns toward the new voice, his face pale and drenched in rain. Standing on top of the hill, staring him down, was Arslan Altan. _The_ Arslan Altan. The same girl who was stronger than most of the guys in class. The same one who took like ten different types of martial arts. And...The one who was holding a particularly sharp knife in her hands.

**Female Student #01: Alice "Arslan" Altan. Designated Weapon: Bowie Knife.**

As he stares up at her, bow in hand, Scarlet repeats something in his mind. _Play it cool._

Forcing a smile, Scarlet lowered the bow and stared up at the girl. "Oh...It's just you. Glad to see it ain't a psycho or something." Her face doesn't even crack a little at this, still as stoney as ever. "...So, guessing that knife is what you got?"

Arslan looks down at the blade a moment, before nodding, "Yep."

Woman of few words. Scarlet gulped, before saying, "Yeah, cool. I just got this stupid thing-"

"Hand it over." And just like that Scarlet's expression fell. "And your supplies too. Wouldn't hurt to have a little extra." He makes no move, as she raises the knife, barking out, "Now!"

Scarlet without a second thought throws the bow down onto his bag, before pushing it up the hill slightly with his foot. With raised hands and clenched teeth, he watched her pick it up, never once allowing her glare to leave his body. Both were silent, watching each other and anticipating whatever move would come next. Eventually though, she put the knife in the holster around her waist, before mumbling, "Go."

He didn't need to be told twice. Just like that, Scarlet booked it down the hill as fast as he could, glancing back occasionally in fright, and to his luck, she wasn't chasing him. He eventually came to a stop after about a full minute of running. He could still make out the hill a little despite the trees blocking his view. He debated for a moment possibly going back...Before shaking his head, and with a pout started to walk into the forest, "Bitch." He muttered to himself, his accent briefly lapsing from his rage.

Looking down at the ground, a scowl formed, and he kicked a rock out from the mud. "Screw her, and screw the others. I'll get out of here...Somehow."

* * *

Arslan Altan was many things, but she had never expected to add 'mugger' to that list. Sure, Scarlet was a bit of a pompous prick sometimes, especially with that shit-eating grin he'd often put on, but she had nothing against him. In this game though, it's kill or be killed. And now she had two weapons, enough food to get her through this game with ease, and one of the best spots outside the school.

Her plan was simple; watch each contestant leave. If they saw her, they knew better than to fuck with her, and if they did they'd learn their lesson. Every time someone does leave she'll make notes in her head; which direction they went in, if they waited for someone, perhaps what weapon they have, and if they seem worth it, whether they'd be a good ally or not. If yes, grab them before they leave and rush back to this spot. If no, let them move along and kill each other off.

Upon forming a small army, they would wait out the night, then search for their classmates in the morning, killing anyone they find without question. Then from there, she'd simply react as needed.

Arslan watched as the next boy left the school; an African boy with a dyed streak of hair down the center of his head. Strong looking body, reasonable height, and while he looked afraid, he didn't look like a pathetic punk at least. Nadir, she believed. She felt a smile form on her face. Yes...Soon, she'd be ruling this game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, if it isn't obvious, chapters are gonna be a lot shorter from now on, each focusing on a particularly significant event in the competition, such as in this case the early release of one of the game's strongest players in the form of Alice "Arslan" Altan, who has already made a name for herself by robbing Scarlet of his supplies. NOW, get on asking those questions! An active viewer base means a happier writer, meaning chapters come out faster!


	5. Survival of the Fittest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so...It's been a while. So...Just to explain...
> 
> As some of you may or may not know; I'm actually not a huge fan of RWBY. I like some elements of it, but for the most part I find the story convoluted and the characters obnoxiously bland. Despite this, I really wanted to write this story...Until I didn't. Turns out writing something about a cast you don't like is hard, who would have guessed. Despite this, I did really like the ideas I had, but I was about to cancel the story entirely…
> 
> And then I saw that apparently over ten people were following this and I was like, "oh shit...that's like...a surprising amount of support". And now...I'm gonna try and finish this. So, this story is back from the grave.
> 
> Now...The show must go on!  
> -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-  
>  **ISLAND MAP**  
>  **{A2}{A3}  
>  **{B2}{B3}{B4}{B5}{B8}{B9}  
>  **{C2}{C3}{C4}{C5}{C6}{C7}{C8}{C9}{C10}  
>  **{D1}{D2}{D3}{D4}{D5}{D6}{D7}{D8}{D9}{D10}  
>  **{E1}{E2}{E3}{E4 | School}{E5}{E6}{E7}{E8}{E9}  
>  **{F1}{F2}{F3}{F4}{F5}{F6}{F7}{F8}{F9}{F10}  
>  **{G1}{G2}{G3}{G4}{G5}{G6}{G7}{G8}{G9}{G10}  
>  **{H2}{H3}{H4}{H5}{H6}{H7}{H8}{H9}  
>  **{I3}{I4}{I5}{I6}{I7}  
>  **{J6}  
> ********************

The leaves of the trees whistled as the wind blew by, the sky above beginning to shift and turn as clouds overhead began to build up into a sort of storm, before thunder cracked out. Running down below through the thick streams of mud and shredded leaves, Roy had to suppress every urge of his to break down crying.

_Survival of the fittest! Kill or be killed!_

Those same words kept echoing over and over in his head, smashing against his skull like rockets, his ears ringing and his eyes tearing up as he just kept running. This was it, this was how he was gonna die; he knew well that no matter how hard he tried he had no chance against his peers. When Weiss _Goddamn_ Schnee, the richest, most confident girl in class, practically has a mental breakdown in front of you, that proves little more than that you're even more screwed than her.

Roy was a nobody; a background character. His life wasn't eventful. He didn't have friends. His family was boring as sin. His hobbies included walking to the store on Fridays to get a slurpee, and that was _it_ , that's _all_ he had going for himself! Meanwhile his classmates were made up of martial artists, jocks, nerds who were ten times smarter than him, and...And...

In that moment, Roy lost all control over himself, as he burst into tears and fell to his knees.

* * *

Walking through the forest, weapon at her side and (reluctantly) at the ready, an athletic girl with bright orange hair stared down at the map in her other hand with a confused look, as they scanned the paper in utter bewilderment. She had never been particularly good with directions. In fact she wasn't very good with the outdoors in general; didn't really have parks back home, and certainly not any forests unless you went out of your way to find them.

 _Man_ , she wished she had gone out of her way to find them.

With a groan, the girl came to a stop, before taking a seat on a nearby rock, her hands trembling slightly as she allowed her grip on her weapon to relax, if only a bit. She placed the map back into her back, before running the hand through her ginger hair, her cyan eyes nearly closing for a moment, before shaking herself awake once more. No, she couldn't do that...Not out here, not right now. _Stay awake, Nora..._

Clasping her hand shut with a grimace, she let out a yawn as her eyes wandered to her left to stare at the weapon in hand; a tall, strong-looking sledgehammer, black in color, and _really_ fucking heavy; practically took most of her strength just to _lift_ the thing, she couldn't imagine what it'd be like actually swinging it...Good thing she wouldn't have to. Not when she found who she was looking for.

**Female Student #12: Nora Valkyrie. Designated Weapon: Sledgehammer.**

Nora's arms shook for a moment at the memory of her friend...That less than an hour ago they were right beside each other like they always were, and now, she had no idea where he was, what he had, or if he was even okay-

Instinctively, Nora felt her palm slap against the side of her face, recoiling in pain as she let out a low grunt of pain. _No_...No she couldn't think like that, she knew he was okay...He had to be. She didn't even _know_ any kids in class who'd wanna mess with him.

He was fine...Ren was fine.

* * *

" _Girl number three! Reese Chloris!"_

_Nora Valkyrie watched as the skater girl promptly threw herself up from her seat and ran toward the door as fast as possible, tripping over herself in the process as her bag was thrown right in her face, causing her to smash into the ground almost cartoonishly. Had it been any other situation, Nora likely would have broken down laughing, but she knew better than that right now. Instead, she just sat in silence, her skin having paled and her whole body shaking violently._

_She couldn't help but glance up for just a moment at the only boy still at the front of the classroom; Lie Ren. As she expected, he was looking back at her as well, as their eyes met. For just a moment, Nora felt a smile creep onto her face, as most her problems seemed to...Disappear almost. He always had that kind of effect on her-_

_As Nora was thinking this though, Ren held up his hands, and made a gesture she almost instantly recognized; first he made his hands look like "D", before then holding up two index fingers. He did this a handful of extra times, and soon Nora found herself going from being utterly baffled to immediately understanding. She threw up a shaky thumbs-up and forced a cheeky smile, which he responded to with a soft smile of his own._

" _Boy number four! Lie Ren!"_

_And just like that, before Nora could react, Ren was gone._

* * *

Nora shook away these thoughts, smacking her forehead while screaming, "Get _ahold_ of yourself, Nora!" She let out an obnoxious groan while throwing herself onto her back, lying on the ground for a few minutes as she wiped her face. "This is no time for this!" Throwing herself to her feet, she instantly grabbed back onto her bag and weapon, grumbling, "I have to find him...No matter what."

With another shake of her head she reached into her bag, pulling the map out once more as she looked over where she was. She had to make it to D2, and the school was at E4; if she just kept walking she should make it to him before morning. Knowing Ren he's _probably_ already there waiting for her...Eh, he'll forgive her. Then when they have each other they can grab Jaune and Pyrrha, and anyone else they like along the way!

Her smile was returning a bit at this thought. Yeah...They'll get out of here. This program can do a lot of things, but it can't beat _Ren and Nora-_

She heard something click behind her, as her eyes went wide. Nora turned to stare at the sudden new presence...Only to see standing behind her, holding a gun up and staring her down, was Roy Stallion, his eyes having gone bloodshot as his tears rolled down his face. Through clenched teeth, he growled out in a low, guttural voice, _"V-Valkyrie…"_

**Male Student #19: Roy Stallion. Designated Weapon: COP .357 Derringer.**

* * *

Lie Ren couldn't help but flinch at the sound of a gunshot in the distance, his hand clenching around his bag protectively as he scowled to himself. _"Survival of the Fittest"_...He couldn't help but shake his head at those words. One of his classmates had bought into this. They were playing to win, he knew that much.

With a shake of his head, he glanced down into his bag, sneering slightly at the 'weapon' he had been given; a roughly ten inch folding paper fan, bright pink in color with green highlights. Someone out there had a gun, he had...Paper. Wonderful.

**Male Student #4: Lie Ren. Designated Weapon: Paper Fan.**

With a low sigh, Ren turned his attention forward, as he continued to walk through a rather peculiar area; a small patch in the middle of the forest, where instead of trees, were long, tall bamboo plants, thin enough to wrap your entire hand around it. As he was walking, he came to a stop at a particularly strong looking bamboo tree, as he gripped onto it, before using his free hand to chop it as hard as he could.

In one swing, it was broken apart, the upper half falling to the ground with a loud crash. He looked it over for a few more moments, before breaking it apart one last time, taking off the lower half, which he promptly picked up, having made himself a makeshift bō staff.

" _If they aren't gonna give me something to work with, then I'll do it myself."_ Ren thought to himself, before turning away from the fallen tree and beginning to walk away, his new weapon in hand, as he muttered under his breath, "Don't worry, Nora...I'll see you soon."

* * *

Nora Valkyrie tried so desperately to scream as a bullet soured right past her head, only for nothing to come out as she watched it tear through the side of a tree, as bark got sent flying in all directions like shrapnel. Her hand instinctively gripped onto the side of her head, as she turned her attention back toward the boy, whose scowl hadn't disappeared as he held the gun out, smoke slowly rising out of it.

She watched as he slowly moved to reposition himself, and was about to pull the trigger again, as she threw her hands in front of herself in defense. "W-Wait! R-Rory!" She watched him flinch and stop moving, as she forced a smile onto her face, "Y-Yeah...R-Rory, right?" He said nothing in response. "Y-Yeah...Rory, let's just calm down a moment, o-okay?"

He simply continued to stare at her, completely silent as his head hung slightly. _"At least he wasn't shooting her anymore,"_ Nora thought to herself, before continuing with, "Look...You're not a k-killer, Rory. So uh...H-How about we just, um...Talk! Y-Yeah, talk!" She couldn't help but cringe a little at how much she was stuttering. "Y-You know, me and my friends...We're gonna find a way out of here!"

Almost instantly, his head rose a bit, as a proper smile returned to her face. "We don't _have_ to play the game _their_ way, Rory! We don't have to kill each other; we're all friends here. A-As long as we have each other, they can't do anything to us. We can escape this island together, show the government that they chose the wrong class to mess with!" With a grin, she extended a hand toward the boy, asking, "So...What do you say?"

The boy stared at her for a few moments, unsure what to say, as his eyes glanced toward the pistol in his hand, as his head slowly hung low once more. "...It's _Roy_."

Nora's face went pale, pulling back her hand just a little, "...W-What?"

"It's _Roy!"_ He screeched at the top of his lungs, practically snapping his jaws at her as he rose his head up, his eyes swollen shut and red in color rolled down his cheek, almost causing him to look...Demonic, in a way. "Roy! Not Rory, _Roy!_ Do you hear me?! Do you _fucking_ hear me you miserable, lying bitch?!" He threw up his hand once more, pointing the gun at her face, as he screeched again, _"Roy!"_

Nora cringed in fear, attempting to scramble away, only for Roy's hand to clasp onto her and throw her onto the ground, and before she could react he already had to gun to her forehead, slamming his foot down on her chest as he screamed into her face, "You're _just_ like everyone else! You don't care about me, _nobody does!"_ He clenched his teeth, chipping them slightly as they grinded against each other, as he mumbled, "You don't even know my damn name...I've known you since _third grade_ , dammit..."

The redhead's eyes scanned the boy's face for a few moments, as she watched him rub his face with the palm of his hand. Nora slowly turned her attention back toward the gun, as she slowly rose her hand- _"No you fucking don't!"_ Roy screamed, pushing the gun against her head harder and forcing her arm down with his free hand. "Y-You're not getting away from me! Y-You're facing your bullshit head on! Actions have fucking _consequences_ , you hear me?!"

He snorted for a moment, as Nora's eyes slammed shut. "...Y-You all think you'll win...Think I don't even got a chance! You're all against me just to make sure I can never be fucking _happy!_ W-Well I'll show you all. This is it...My _chance_ to stand out. To prove to this fucking world I _deserve_ the fucking best!" He forced a smile through his tears, "I-I'll win...I'll _dominate!"_

Nora's eyes slowly fluttered open, a single tear beginning to run down her left cheek as he ranted, "Y-Yeah... _My_ chance! _My_ win! My _everything!_ I'll show you _all_ who the _fuck_ Roy Stallion is!" Nora's eyes slowly shifted to left, slowly widening as her eyes landed on something; her sledgehammer, only a few feet away.

But Roy remained none the wiser, as he continued, "Good ol' Roy; a fucking _champion_ among men! E-Everyone's gonna wanna taste of good ol' Roy...F-Fuck yeah! Roy, Roy, Roy; I can hear the cheering now, everyone cheering for good ol' fucking Roy! What'd that asshole say back at the school?"

He couldn't help but cackle madly, his jaw expanding to a length that didn't seem physically possible, as Nora stretched out her arm, slowly getting closer and closer to the hammer, with every additional inch feeling like it was starting to tear at her skin. Slowly, his eyes looked back down at her, meeting her gaze, as he slowly began to push down on the trigger. "T-That's right...Survival of the _fucking_ fittest, _baby!"_

Nora's eyes narrowed, as she mumbled, "Yeah...Survival of the fittest…"

Swinging her arm upward with all her strength, Nora barely managed to swing the sledgehammer just enough for it to smash into the side of Roy's lowered face, throwing his head back as teeth flew out of his mouth in spurts of blood. He fell to the ground, quickly grabbing onto his face in pain, as Nora threw herself to her feet, her free hand hanging over the arm that held the hammer, which hung loosely from the amount of strength she threw into the swing.

Spitting out another tooth as he held his jaw, Roy shook in place, before turning toward Nora with a raised gun, letting out a muffled, "That _fucking_ hurt-"

But Nora wasn't done; letting out a war cry, Nora swung the hammer once again, this time colliding with the hand that held the pistol. As it smashed into it, the bones in Roy's fingers instantly shattered to bits, as he howled out in pain, only to be silenced as the hammer came flying backward against the side of Roy's head, caving it in as he was sent crumbling against the ground.

As this happened though, Nora couldn't help but go still, as if she had been paralyzed. She simply...Stared at his unmoving, twitching body, as blood began to flow out from his fingers and face. "Did...Did I..." Nora mumbled, as she brought a hand to her mouth, covering it to muffle any sounds that dared exit, while her eyes began to tear up. "I...I didn't mean to-"

She bit her tongue at this, as her breathing grew heavier and more coarse within moments. There was only one thought that went through her head at that moment…

" _Run."_

And just like, Nora broke out into a sprint, grabbing onto her bag in the process and running away as fast as she possibly could, not even bothering to think about the gun that she had left behind, or the crumbled body of her attacker. That didn't matter to her. All that mattered was getting away from the scene as fast as possible.

In fact, Nora had run away so fast, she hadn't even realized she had run the way _opposite_ of her destination…

* * *

" _Did...Did I...I...I didn't mean to..."_

Roy could barely make out much right now. His eyes were swollen and puffed up, his eyes splattered with bow tears and blood. His jaw was broken, couldn't say anything else even if he tried. And his hand...Jesus he couldn't even _feel_ that anymore. That was bad, right? Crap, it had to be...He...God he couldn't even see...

Was...Was this it? Was this how he died? Battered and broken in the middle of nowhere, nobody to mourn for him? Would anyone miss him? Or even remember him...That...That was a scary thought...Shit why did...How did this...Why did he ever think he could be one of the big dogs?

Roy could barely make out the sounds of running, as he simply...Stared up at the sky. Nora was gone. He was alone now...All alone to die in the middle of fucking nowhere, on a deserted island with people who didn't even know his goddamn name.

Oh God...Things...Things were becoming a daze...Good God he couldn't even tell what was happening-

" _Oh...How sad...A broken dog, left to die by someone too scared to finish the job. How pitiful."_

Roy could feel his body tensing up at the voice... _No_...Not _her_...

" _What do you know...The stupid girl forgot to grab your gun. Didn't even think someone could be so dumb. Well, guess that one's on me for overestimating my peers."_

Roy oh so desperately wanted to call out for help, weakly attempting to grab onto the grass and pull himself forward, only to bellow out in pain as he felt the girl's heels dig into his hand. _"Oh, you won't get away that easily."_ He could feel her hand, soft and cold, run down his cheek, her nails dragging across him and scratching at his skin. _"Yes...Yes you'll do well for a start."_

With a kick to the side, Roy fell onto his back once more, as he fell into a coughing fit, blood drenching the dirt below. Before he could do anything else, a pair of hands wrapped around his throat, squeezing down as her nails dug into the skin, with blood beginning to pour out like streams of water. His eyes bulged in pain, as he instinctively grabbed a hold of his neck in an attempt to pry away her fingers, but he was too weak to do much more than slap at them.

Within moments, he could feel his throat closing up, her grip tightening as he gasped out in agony. He kicked his legs up as hard as he can, and attempt to try and smack at her face with his hands, grabbing onto it as they shook faster and faster with each passing moment, only to hear a nasty crunch as she bit down onto a misplaced thumb, causing him to cry out, wasting more of his dwindling air.

_Please...Please God, not like this-_

But before another word could pass through him, she pressed her knees down onto his chest, causing Roy to choke out another wordless screech, his eyes twitching as his arms fell limp to his sides, the last of energy having left him. He simply stared up at the girl's smiling face, her cold, burning yellow eyes staring right through him. It only took a minute more, before he drew his last breath...And his body slumped to the ground below.

Even in death, his attacker wasn't quite sure of the boy's name.

**BOY #19 - ROY STALLION, DEAD. 41 STUDENTS REMAINING!**

* * *

"...Well, that was fun." With a whistle, the girl got up off the boy's lifeless body, taking a moment to stretch her arms as she stared down at her handiwork.

" _What a pitiful little thing. I basically did him a favor at that point."_ She thought to herself, as her eyes slowly wandered toward the pistol thrown across the dirt, as a wicked grin grew across her face. She picked the small weapon up off the ground, looking it over with a sadistic look. _"Though...There were certainly some perks to the mercy."_

With a low laugh, he threw the gun into her bag haphazardly, before getting to work on emptying Roy's supplies into her own bag; not like he had any use for them now. And within minutes, she was strutting off, satisfied with her work, as she simply smiled. This game was gonna be even easier than she thought it'd be...Though it doesn't matter. This could have been impossible and she'd still find a way to overcome it.

After all... _Nobody_ can defeat Cinder Fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TORCHWICK FILE #37**   
>  **MALE STUDENT NUMBER NINETEEN**
> 
> **Full Name:** Roy Stallion.  
>  **Birthday:** April 14th.  
>  **Hair Color:** Brown.  
>  **Eye Color:** Green.  
>  **Height:** 5'10.  
>  **Weight:** 135 lb.  
>  **Distinguishing Physical Characteristic(s):** Wears his hair in dreadlocks. Besides that, nothing to speak of.  
>  **Disciplinary Issues:** None.  
>  **Extracurricular Activities:** None.  
>  **GPA:** 2.0.  
>  **Personality Notes:** He's awkward and never speaks up. He doesn't seem to have any hobbies or friends. Nobody knows him too well either, to a point where some probably don't even know he exists. To be perfectly honest he's completely uninteresting. It's doubtful this'll even come up in any interesting way.  
>  **Weapon:** Derringer.  
>  **Game Prognosis:** Bad. He certainly...Exists. There's nothing all that enticing about him, and while he has a decent weapon, it's unlikely it'll be of much use against most of his classmates. He could possibly last a while. Perhaps get involved in a handful of interactions with the more interesting players. But he won't kill anyone, or really do anything to stand out himself. He definitely won't win. He'll simply be a background gag we won't acknowledge until he gets killed off. Hopefully, he'll at least have an entertaining death scene.  
>  **Other notes:** Seems to have an unchecked case of antisocial personality disorder. Maybe that'll be interesting?  
> -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-  
>  **WTG Eulogy; Roy Stallion (0 Kills, 42nd Place)**  
>  In WIN the GAME, to say there is a singular, definitive "main" character would be lying. Every character has a story, and while they vary in importance, I definitely wouldn't say one stands out from the pack as being the titular narrative. But ultimately, as this is a tragedy based around the deaths of children, it's only expected that some would need to die earlier than others. Which brings us to the student I chose to kill first, Roy. And if you read the original version of this...Yeah, I doubt that's surprising.
> 
> Roy has been locked into a position for an early death for a while now, for multiple reasons; he was a background character in canon who is dead already, has nothing resembling a personality, has an overall uninteresting design, and doesn't even have that cool of a weapon. He's honestly probably the single most boring RWBY character in this cast, which is why I decided to turn him into what an actual loser is in real life; someone people ignore and don't care about. And then I explored a little how that could influence someone's mind, and low and behold, we have the first person to crack from the game itself. Then I decided to have him kickstart Ren/Nora's plot, and since I needed to introduce Cinder Fall through her killing someone, he fit into place well.
> 
> I honestly wish there was more I could say about Roy, but...In all honesty, there is nothing left to add on! Roy was a character who in many ways was designed as an afterthought, and circumstances meant that unlike his teammates and the other filler characters, he couldn't really be expanded upon too much. I feel like he was a necessary addition to the story, and he certainly has affected some plotlines and how they'll develop now, but this was never gonna be his chance to shine. Though won't lie, he was a fun character to write, if just a little.  
> -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-  
> Anyways, with that said, thank you to the...Apparently multiple creators of Battlestuck for the concept of the Player Profiles and Player Eulogies. Those are amazing ideas and I feel they'll help the characters gain a little more depth even outside the story.
> 
> With that said, I do beg you guys; PLEASE review. Reviews help in ways you could not believe, so I beg, if you just have just five minutes, send me one. It'd mean so much to me.
> 
> With that said...Seeya.


	6. Live or Die

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **So, before this chapter begins, I just wanna credit someone cause I forgot to. Anyways, I got the name of this story and the images I used for the cover art from this game called "Win The Game" by game programmer Aleema; also thanks to Starling and Guttari Nyanko for the art.**
> 
> **ANYWAYS, back to killing!**

It didn't take long for Yang Xiao Long to arrive at the koi pond on the far left side of the island. It was less than a mile from the school, and while she had slowed down considerably for the past few minutes, it still didn't require much for her to arrive in a timely enough manner. Compared to the school, it was a pretty relaxing sight; a simple stream of water with a bridge going over it, allowing you to stare down at the fish swimming below. On any other day, Yang would be happy to take in the atmosphere...But right now all she felt like doing was crying.

Tears were rolling down her face like waterfalls, her bag hanging loosely from her hand, as she practically dragged it across the ground and onto the bridge. About halfway across the bridge, she came to a stop, looking over the railing as she watched a pair of fish swim away. Her body shook for a moment, before falling to her knees, having waited for a moment to give out for so long now.

And before she could stop herself, she screamed. A horrible, blood-curdling scream, full of anger and regret and frustration- _dammit,_ _dammit_ , _dammit!_ She pounded down onto the bridge as her screams only grew louder by the second. Every time she smashed her hands down, she could hear the voice. The awful voice that kept pounding against her head like a pebbles in a can.

" _You're making a fool of yourself, Yang."_

" _Someone is going to hear you. Then they're going to kill you."_

" _You were so confident, weren't you? That you'd avoid this. That you wouldn't have to remember what I told you."_

" _That you wouldn't_ _ **end up like me**_ _-"_

"Shut _up!"_ Yang hollered out once more, now holding onto herself for dear life, desperately wishing for the sweet embrace of...Anyone by this point. Ruby, Coco, Jaune, even that pig, Neptune, would be fine at this point, she just needed _someone_ , _anyone_ , right now-

As these thoughts were passing through her mind, however, she heard some kind of rustling amid the trees nearby, instantly snapping her out of her thoughts. Without a moment's hesitation, she threw herself to her feet and sprinted away from the bridge, jumping into a nearby set of bushes. Just as quickly as she had hopped inside, she had thrown a hand over her mouth, silencing anything that _dare_ try and exit, as her eyes slowly turned to stare out at the figure walking out into the open.

And as soon as he walked out, realization soon hit her that she was clearly safe. He was Falkner Alistair, better known as "Fox" among their classmates. He was a pretty sight; that nice tan skin, the skinny though muscular body, that crimson hair put back into a ponytail, heck he was even pretty tall. But of course, it came at the price of being completely blind. She couldn't help but feel bad for the poor guy. Probably was tripping over everything on the way here. Heck, the _only_ way he probably had even gotten this far was because he had heard-

"Yang?" Fox said softly, tapping his cane on the ground as he looked around at nothing. "Yang, where are you?" Yang continued to remain silent, clearly still unwilling to reveal herself. "Yang, I can hear the rustling." Crap. "You're not exactly subtle. Now come on out, unless you're afraid I can somehow kick your ass."

With a low growl, the blonde slowly pushed herself up off the ground, though continued to clench onto her bag, mumbling, "No offense, Fox, but unless you're secretly Daredevil, I doubt you could kick anyone's ass, even _in_ a hypothetical."

As soon as she had said this, Fox turned toward where he had heard her, his signature cocky grin forming across his face as he stood across the bridge. "Ah, perfect, glad to see your sense of humor hasn't disappeared under the circumstances."

Yang couldn't help but flinch a bit at his tone of voice. It was...Almost chipper. As if this game was nothing more than an inconvenience, and not the clear life or death scenario it truly was. She almost felt like questioning it, but decided to push that thought away, if only for the sake of being polite. He wasn't being a prick, so no reason to be one back.

"Though, could you do me a favor real quick," Fox muttered, as he reached into his pocket and grabbed onto something. Instinctively, Yang's eyes widened, and she was prepared to break out into a sprint...Almost to instantly relax, as he instead pulled out a gold pocket watch. With a single flick, it flipped open, as he held it out. "Could you tell me the time?" The blonde gave the boy a strange look, which he somehow seemed to realize. "I know it's a bit strange, but I'd just like to know is all."

Yang continued to stare at him for another second or two, as her eyes slowly gazed down at the watch, taking a few steps forward to get a better view from across the bridge. After a moment, she answered, "Eighteen minutes after one."

"Ah, perfect." Fox responded with a smirk, before closing the watch, "that means Coco will be out in a mere...Two minutes or less." As he placed his watch back into his pocket, he muttered, "Knowing Coco, she probably won't get _anything_ done until she finds me. Poor girl was always too loyal for her own good." With a hum...He shrugged, "Guess it's best to stay put then." He glanced toward where he had heard Yang speak. "We're not too far from the school, right?" Before she could even answer, he interrupted with, "Who am I kidding, of course we're close. I'm blind, not like I could make it too far on my own."

With a humble laugh, he threw his cane over his shoulder, allowing his body to relax, if only a little. Yang however continued to stare at him, as thoughts clouded her mind once more. Specifically regarding when he had gotten let out. "...Hey, Fox," he lifted his head slightly, as she continued, "you were at the desk next to mine...Boy fourteen, right?"

"Correct."

"Then...How'd you survive?"

* * *

_Walking out of the school slowly, and with a hardened look few knew she could pull off, Yang Xiao Long couldn't help but quickly compile the remnants of whatever plan she had come up with inside. She was gonna find somewhere to hide just outside the school, and wait. Simple as that. Wait, and wait, and wait, and wait; wait until Ruby walked out of that school, so they can get out of there._

_After that...Well the plan became a bit more lax. Maybe find somewhere to hide out. If someone cool showed up, let them in, if only to help with guarding. But after that, she couldn't even consider what she'd do. All she knew is she needed to keep Ruby safe. That's all she had to do-_

_As she was thinking this though, she could faintly hear the sound of something slicing through the air, as her eyes widened in an instant. She allowed her body to collapse beneath her slightly, as a blade narrowly flew over where her face had once been. And only moments after that, she coughed out in pain as a foot smashed against her side, sending her skidding across the grass covering the ground._

_With a groan, Yang began to push herself up, only for a foot to land on top of her, pushing down on her chest and against the dirt below, as she struggled painfully beneath it. She slowly looked up...Only to instantly recognize the sight on top of her._

_He was an Asian boy, with a mop of messy black hair that looked like it hadn't ever been combed. His nose was pointed, and his face was rough, while his body was scrawny yet tight, with some clear muscle showing itself. But perhaps most noticeable of all were his gangly legs, which easily allowed him to tower over most of the class without much effort. A disgusting smirk was resting on his face as he stared down at her, as he chuckled lowly._

" _Caught you off guard, right?" He asked, his snicker crawling over her like a spider, as he threw the sword in his hand onto his shoulder to rest. "Man...Sure was lucky I could take out a honey like you first, Blondie. Without you around, that'll be one less person I gotta worry about."_

_Yang scowled coldly at the boy, "Glad to see the game hasn't done anything to you, Bolin." The boy simply smirked in response._

**Male Student #13: Bolin Hori. Designated Weapon: Katana.**

_Of all people, Bolin was probably up there with one of the people Yang was hoping she wouldn't have to deal with in this game. He had always been a slippery bastard. He had gotten sent to the principal's office for cracking jokes at teachers and stealing from the class more times than she could count. What she knew for certain was he was bad news. A smug, unruly jerk who almost seemed to get off on the fact he could get away with just about anything._

_Seems like he was trying to add murder to that list._

" _Yeah...My personality is simply too much of a winner to let this game change me too much." Bolin cracked, as he used a finger to try and get out something stuck in his teeth. "But I won't lie...The whole concept that I can just sorta off whoever I want and not get in trouble for it is a little interesting. Admittedly though, you're not really on the list of assholes I want gone."_

_This comment did little to ease the tension, as Yang growled out. "Guessing that doesn't mean you'll let me go, though."_

" _Yeah, sorry Blondie, but this is a bit too good of an opportunity." He simply responded, his grin growing as he slowly held out his sword. "And you know how the saying goes; when you got lemons, you make lemonade. Or in this case, if I can hack off your head now, I won't have to do it later."_

_As he said this though, Yang slowly re-positioned herself from underneath the boy, bringing up her leg slightly without him seeming to notice. Forcing a smile, she forced out, "Well...Guess I can't fight your logic."_

" _Nope, definitely can't," Bolin stated, as he brought up the sword, "anyways, killing time-"_

_And just like that, Yang striked._

_Throwing up her knee, she smashed it into the bottom of the boy's crotch, and instantaneously, any thoughts of murder were replaced by pure agony in Bolin's mind, as he howled out in pain. In his moment of distraction, Yang wiggled out slightly from beneath his foot, and in a single, swift motion, threw up her hand, which collided with Bolin's side. And just like that, Bolin crumbled to the ground like a fallen tower, held up only loosely as he pushed all of his weight onto his sword._

_Yang promptly stood up from where she had laid, and with zero hesitation, she roared out in anger and swung her fist forward, which collided with the side of Bolin's face, throwing him off balance entirely as he fell to the ground with a crash. And that's where he laid, groaning and defeated, as Yang's eyes slowly drifted toward the katana that now laid on the ground. She reached out to grab it-_

_Only to freeze. She...Stood there. Unmoving. Trapped in her thoughts and incapable of breaking out of them, as voices ran through her mind._

" _ **If someone tries to hurt, or kill you, there are no second chances. A second chance means you want to die."**_

" _ **Kill them without hesitation."**_

" _ **Live or die, Yang. LIVE OR DIE-"**_

_As she stared on though, she finally snapped out of her thoughts as the boy beside her screeched out, grabbing a hold of the sword on the ground and swinging with all his might. Jumping back, the sword just barely missed the tip of her nose, as she took a few steps back, while Bolin pushed himself up off the ground, one hand holding his sword, the other his groin, as he stared at Yang...With a smile._

" _W-Well shit...That fucking hurt...Guess that was a solid lesson." Bolin snickered out, as he muttered, "Guess I ain't too good in a straight up fight...Best to stick to the sneaky stuff. It's what I'm good at." As he was saying this though, he slowly muttered, "But won't lie...Right now, I really wanna stab you."_

_Yang and Bolin stared each other down, both clutching onto their bags, as the latter menacingly waved the sword in front of her face. She could fight him. She could win. She could...Could..._

_For a moment, Yang had to fight off the urge to get lost in her thoughts once more, and so instead...She seemed to stop thinking entirely. Her mind went blank, practically going off basic instinct by this point...As she simply...Stared at the sword. The long, shard sword that could disembowel her like a sausage, spraying whatever was inside her onto the ground like a fine coat of paint._

_In the art of war, survival instinct trumps all over thoughts...As Yang broke out into a sprint, running as far from the school as she possibly could, never allowing herself to truly process what was happening as tears began to leak from her eyes._

_Screams echoed from behind her. "Where are you going, Blondie? Not gonna finish your handiwork? Ain't gonna bat me around like I deserve?"  
_

_Yang's mind could only drown it out, listening solely to her own footsteps, and the sound of running behind her, which slowly grew slower and slower. "You're dead, Blondie! You're gonna die sooner or later, just wait!"_

_And in the end, that was the last thing she heard, before her memories went dark._

* * *

Fox stood in silence, humming to himself at what he had been told. "Wow. So Bolin is playing and scared you off, eh?" He didn't need to be able to see in order to understand her response. "Huh...Weird. Well, if it isn't obvious, my head is still firmly attached to my body, so looks like by the time I came out, he either left, or didn't bother me, though the latter doesn't make much sense if he's...Well, ready to kill and all."

Yang simply stared at the boy as he said this, her body shaking slightly, as he added om, "Guess the school is safe then. Least until everyone's out."

As he was saying this though, Yang threw her bag over her shoulder and quickly started walking away, "I need to go back then."

"What?" Fox asked, glancing over as her footsteps walked by. "Any reason why?"

"Ruby is girl fifteen. You're boy fourteen. So if nobody was there to attack her by the time she came out, then…" Yang started explaining, before coming to a stop just off the bridge. "...Then maybe she's still waiting for me."

"...Ah...Trying to save your sister…" Fox's voice grew ever so fainter at this, as if he was slowly beginning to understand the implication. "...I getcha. But...Guessing that means we may not see each other again, right?"

"...I hope we don't." Yang muttered, her hand hovering over her bag, specifically over whatever laid inside it. "Good luck, Fox."

"Right back at 'ya," Fox muttered, as she began to walk away- "Wait," she came to a stop, turning back to him, "...If you run into Coco, tell her I'm here please. I sorta prefer not running around the forest again. Was pretty hard the first time."

Yang looked him over for another moment, feelings of regret slowly forming over her, "I will." With a heavy breath, she mumbled out, "Goodbye, Fox."

And with that, she broke into a sprint as she booked it into the forest before her. Her eyes narrowed in determination, as she ran toward the school as fast as she could.

* * *

" _...Where were you when I needed you most?" Yang asked sternly, her hands gripping down onto the leather chair she sat in, as she watched her mother take a sip of her tea, which was red in color. Upon getting no response, she clenched her teeth, snarling out, "What? You can't tell me that much? You reach out to me for the first time in years and you can't give me even the smallest reason for why I shouldn't walk out that door right now?"_

" _If you leave, you'll die." Her mother coarsely replied, her voice as rough as paper, and yet almost calming and serene. Yang used to mistake it for an angel's, but over time she had gotten to know it was nothing more than a demon's trick. "I think that's a simple enough reason."_

_However, this wasn't good enough, as Yang snapped back, "This is just like you! Dad was in the hospital for months, and you never even sent a voicemail, but the second I'm a senior and not a junior, you suddenly make the effort to come back into my life?" Each word was laced with poison, as she spit out, "I should have known this wouldn't be worth it-"_

" _Quiet!" The demon barked, her red eyes staring through her. "If you ever raise your voice at me again, I'll-"_

" _What?" Yang muttered, before returning the glare. "What will you do...Kill me?" And just like that, her mother fell into silence once more. "You've done it before...Only reason you're still here."_

" _...And the only reason you're here." The withered woman barked back lowly, her energy having left her. "...You were the only reason I kept going you know. Knowing you were on the way...That was the only way. The only way I could motivate myself to survive that horrible game."_

" _Sure doesn't feel like it." Yang hissed out._

_However, her mother didn't dare say anything in response. Instead, she simply lifted up the bottom of her shirt, as the sight caused her to cringe; a deep gash in the side of her stomach, similar to the one just below her throat. Both scars were ancient at this point, and had become this ugly pinkish-brown color. Yang had seen it a few times in the past, but every single time felt just as bad as the last._

" _Scars are forever, Yang. A constant reminder of what I did. Of my mistakes." Yang could make out a tint of regret in her eyes, as her mother raised a hand to grab onto a locket around her neck. "Everyday I think about him...About how much I wish you could have met him." A faint smile grew across her face. "He was so much like you..."_

_And just as suddenly, the faint crack of happiness disappeared. "But...That was a long time ago. I don't even remember what he sounded like. It's in the past, and it can't be changed." She let out a heavy breath, muttering out, "I survived...That's all that matters." A faint glare formed on her face. "And now you're old enough to be eligible. Old enough that it's a risk-"_

" _There are thousands of schools across the country," Yang snapped back, "I won't be selected-"_

" _You don't know that!" Her mother screeched, the deep guttural sounds from within almost sounding barbaric, "Luck is never on your side when it comes to the program! Doesn't matter how unlikely, it could still happen, so please...Please," her mother's hand rose, stretching out and grabbing onto her daughter's hand and pulling her toward her, "let me help you. If you went in, and I couldn't help somehow, I...Please."_

_Yang's face contorted into a nasty scowl. Her mother, withered and pale, was staring at her, somehow trying to convince her to listen, when she had no reason to. All she was, was a haggard, pathetic hermit, who had never taken the time to be a part of her life...She was nothing to her. And yet...Yang couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity._

" _...Fine...What do you want to tell me?"_

_Her mother's grip tightened, as she hissed out, "You only need to know this...It's live or die, Yang. If you get in, repeat that to yourself. Tell yourself over and over that it's_ _**live or die** _ _. Grind it in there. Because you can only win if you want to live. And if you want to live, you can't see anyone in your class as being more worthy of living then yourself, because they aren't. If you think they are for even a moment more worthy, you don't want to live, you want to die. Do you hear me?"_

_Yang's glare hardened. "Yes."_

" _Good," her mother muttered, continuing with, "but if you want to live...You can't have mercy. If someone tries to hurt, or kill you, there are no second chances. A second chance means you want to die. If you will benefit from someone dying, which you_ _ **will**_ _, then kill them without hesitation; if you don't, you want to die. And every step of the way, never forget that the game is about_ _ **you**_ _. Not your classmates, not your friends, not your family-"_

" _Stop," Yang interrupted, "I get it. Now let go of me."_

_Her mother simply continued to stare for a moment, as she let go, and retracted back into her seat. "Yang, remember that the game is about you. You decide if you live or die." Yang and her mother's eyes met one last time. "Live or die...Make your choice."_

* * *

" _...Sorry mom...But this isn't about me."_ Yang thought to herself as she tore through the forest, pushing anything and everything out of her path to return to the school. _"You told me to decide. Live or die, right? Well, I made my choice."_

With a grunt she tore through a thick patch of vines, tearing them away with all her strength, as she scowled in determination. _"My choice is I'm not gonna be like you. I'm not gonna lose my principles just for the sake of survival. I'm not gonna live long enough to become a myth who detaches herself from the world. I'm not gonna forget who I am."_

" _If it's live or die, then I choose to go out as a Xiao Long, not as a Branwen."_ Yang ground her teeth together as she tore through the grime and mud, her thoughts going wild at this point. _"My destiny is one I get to decide, not you! And no matter what this island throws at me, I ain't backing down!"_

Yang looked up toward the stars above, as she mumbled out, "Just hold on Ruby...I'm coming."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **And just like that, we have the first major twist of the game; Raven Xiao Long, formerly Raven Branwen, was the official winner of a past Battle Royale (specifically game #111, which for clarity's sake, this is game #151). I actually have like, an entire spreadsheet on how her game went. Not really sure if I'll explore that in this story, but if people are interested I'll dedicate a chapter to it at some point.**
> 
> **On that note, I sorta tried out a bit of a different tone with the Bolin introduction. That whole encounter I wanted to feel sudden and hard to keep up with, and wanted to see if I could make it come across as such in the reading. Not sure if it really worked, but eh, it's fun getting creative once in a while. Oh yeah, the chapter name is a reference to a Disney song; whoever names it first gets a cookie.**
> 
> **Anyways, that's about it! Ciao.**


	7. Warm Embrace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Do you guys ever think about how you’d fair in this sort of game?**
> 
> **...No? Just me?**
> 
> **Good. You’re sane.**

As soon as she had been let out onto the island, Ruby Xiao Long had walked into the forest like all the kids before her, though unlike the others, she wasn't even bothering to try and stay quiet, calmly whistling to herself as she stared down at her map. To be honest she wasn't worried; she had no reason to be.

Ruby wasn't dumb. She knew about the program. She knew how dangerous, and emotionally draining, and seemingly hopeless the whole thing was on paper. Nobody needed to remind her of that fact, least of all herself. Heck, she still remembered just before she started high school how her dad sat her down and gave her this long-winded speech about the program...

God, poor dad...She had no idea how he was probably reacting to all of this. Well...That was a lie. She knew he was panicking. Pacing the floors, calling everyone he knew, screaming at himself and the school and at anyone who would listen about all of this, crying and- she couldn't think about that. It didn't matter.

Because the program made the _wrong_ choice choosing _this_ class for the program!

Yang, Weiss, Jaune, she couldn't see them or anyone else ever playing this game. Even the bad kids like Russel Thrush or Mercury Black; sure, they were bullies, but _killers?_ No way! Heck, she knew for a fact that the gunshot earlier was probably just one of her less confident classmates testing their gun or something. And good on them for doing so! Best to make sure they got the real deal, after all.

Admittedly, if she _was_ playing, which she isn't, cause _duh_ , she would probably have a bit of an advantage. She was sort of like...A gun expert. And a sword expert. Oh and hammers and axes and bombs, and don't even get her _started_ on scythes. She just really, _really_ liked weapons is all. No big deal about that. Some girls liked dolls, she liked poisonous gases. That sort of thing.

Totally normal. Yep.

Well, good thing she wasn't playing then for the rest of her class' sake, and good thing nobody else is playing either. All she had to do was find a way to rally everyone together, then they'll bring down their righteous fury onto that jerk Roman and everyone else who put them into this nightmare!

A smile beamed across Ruby's face at that thought, as she continued to walk toward a town, no more than half a mile away from where she was.

Lookout, world! Ruby Xiao Long and friends are coming to kick your butt!

* * *

The wooden walls of the house creaked as wind blew past it, the trees above flapping along in a sort of unmistakable rhythm, while a pair of eyes stared out at them from the window, before clenching shut as soon as a leaf broke out a branch and smacked against the glass lightly.

" _I'm going to die..."_

The figure inside the house fiddled her fingers around the device in her hands; it was a small though narrow device, painted black and yellow in color with two tips at the top. It didn't take much thinking to realize it was a stun gun. She had gotten used to the sight, since her father had always told her to bring one with her wherever she went. In case someone stopped her. In case something tried to- tried to...Tried...

" _I'm going to die..."_

Each time that thought circled through her head, she felt the need to break down into tears. She couldn't take this. She wasn't supposed to be here. She was just supposed to be on a trip with her friends, taking pictures for the school paper. Relaxing and desperately trying to ignore everything happening back home. Ignore the divorce. Ignore the fact her brother was leaving for college. Ignore that they were running out of money.

And yet here she was, and for once, she was being very bluntly true to herself. The light-skinned Latina knew it well in her heart what awaited her as soon as someone entered through those doors. It didn't matter if she had a stun gun or an actual gun; no matter what she'd lose. She wasn't built for this. She was barely built for life already, and now she was fighting for hers...

" _I'm going to die..."_

**Female Student #07: Velvet Scarlatina. Designated Weapon: Dual Capacitor Stun Gun.**

With a low whimper, Velvet pushed herself up against the wall, covering her face as she loosely handled the weapon in her grip. _"I'm going to die..."_ She clenched her teeth and slammed her eyes shut. _"I'm going to die."_ She gripped onto the sides of her head, her thoughts going a mile a minute. _"I'm going to die-"_

_Snap._

Velvet's eyes opened in a stir, pushing herself further against the wall as she held her weapon up. _"Oh no...Someone found me."_ Slamming her free hand over her mouth, her body shook in fear, as the sounds of heavy footsteps echoed outside. _"I need to be quiet. Just hope they're passing by. Please just be passing by."_

Their shadow passed over the window, revealing a large, bulky upper body of considerable height. Clearly a boy, but she couldn't tell who exactly it was. Her mind quickly began to wander to some of the largest, toughest boys in class; Sage Ayana, Brawnz Ni, Nadir Shiko- No, he was back at the school. She saw him with someone. Who else, who else?! Um, maybe-

Before she could finish speaking though, the door on the right side of the building slammed open, as she instinctively squeaked out in fear, jumping to her feet and holding out the stun gun. But as soon as she realized who was standing before her, a sort of dread consumed her.

It's Yatsuhashi Daichi; the biggest, strongest, scariest kid in class. Over seven feet of pure muscle, well-known for being the one kid _nobody_ messed with. Compared to Velvet he was a giant. In fact, compared to _everybody,_ he was a giant, to a point where he had to duck in order to walk through the doorway.

And so...Here they were. Staring at each other, weapons in hand. For Velvet, a measly taser that wouldn't stop him from ringing out her neck if he wished to. And for him...A long, sharp blade, perfectly tailored for a man of his size, to a point where it was easily half her height in length. In every way, he outmatched her. And now she was locked inside with him.

**Male Student #09: Yatsuhashi Daichi. Designated Weapon: Machete.**

" _I'm going to die..."_

* * *

Ruby Xiao Long couldn't lie, this town _really_ wasn't much when you got into the thick of it. It was pretty small, couldn't be more than two dozen buildings or so; less a town and more a bunch of houses. Really, it wasn't anything to go crazy about, thought she couldn't deny it was a _bit_ unnerving seeing them. They looked sorta similar to the neighborhoods back home. Kind of had a weird uncanny effect in a way.

As she walked down the street between the houses, she hummed along to a nonexistent tune in her head, she glanced up at the houses to the right...Only to come to a stop at a brief glint of orange, which disappeared from the window before she could react.

Ruby stared up in hollow silence, tilting her head a moment, before calling out, "Uh...Hey! Somebody up there?" No response. " _Helllllllllllllllllllllllllo_ ," she called out once more, as she approached the door of the house, gripping onto the doorknob and pushing it open, "anybody home?"

As soon as she entered the house, she quickly took notice of the chipped paint on the walls and all the antique, dusty furniture. _"Note to self, thank dad for keeping the house nice when I get home,"_ she thought to herself, before shaking her head and continuing forward, as she began to walk up the staircase before her.

"Hello?" Ruby called out once more as she reached the top of the stairs, finding herself at the beginning of a corridor. With a pout, she began walking forward once more, "Okay this is _seriously_ annoying-"

As she was saying this though, the door directly in front of her swung up, smashing into her face and sending her falling to the floor. With a groan, she rubbed her forehead as she looked up at the door, only for her face to light up as soon as she realized who was standing before her. That mop of bright ginger hair. Those pale green eyes. All those freckles dotting her face. That tall, wiry frame with those long, skinny legs.

The girl stared down at her for a moment, before smiling and saluting. "Salutations, Ruby."

Ruby watched the girl's every move, her body shaking...Before jumping to her feet, and quickly consuming the girl in a hug, "Penny!" Tightening her grip on her friend, a smile grew across her face. "I can't believe I got this lucky!"

Penny blinked at the redhead's kind gesture, before smiling softly herself, returning the hug as she stated, "It's a pleasure to see you as well, Ruby."

* * *

"S-Stand back," Velvet spat out, her eyes watering as she held out her stun gun, tapping the button for just a moment so a spark could show itself, "d-don't come near me!"

However, Yatsuhashi simply looked over the girl, his expression blank and body unflinching, as if not truly understanding what she had just said. After a few seconds, he said, "You're the camera girl." He rose up a hand, pointing at her as her body tensed up. "You took pictures for our games. I saw them in the paper." He hummed to himself...Before nodding. "Yes. They were quite good."

However, this did nothing to quell Velvet's fear, as she hissed out, "W-What're you...? S-Stop talking!"

"Are you going to use that on me?" Yatsuhashi questioned, still unmoving.

"Y-Yes!" She shrieked, though the hesitation was enough to tell him she was lying. "I-If you don't leave, I-I'll make you! I-I won't let you hurt me!"

"I'm not going to hurt you," he simply answered. However, this only caused the girl to scowl.

"D-Don't you _dare_ l-lie to me!" She snapped out, which admittedly didn't sound intimidating in the slightest. "Y-You're here to k-k-kill me!"

"Why would I do that?" Yatsuhashi questioned once more, clearly confused about the situation, and yet still unflinching. It was almost creepy how little he had moved so far...Really, _really_ creepy.

"B-Because...T-That's the only way to leave!" The girl continued, her arms trembling in fear, "Y-You're going to kill me so you can escape! Everyone...Everyone is..." Her gaze shifted for just a moment, "W-We're all going to die-"

_That was his chance,_

Pouncing forward, Yatsuhashi easily closed the distance between the two, and in one swift movement, smashed the palm of his hand against her own, sending the stun gun flying out of her palms and spiraling across the room. Before she could react, he used his shoulder to bash into her chest, sending her flying backward as she crashed against the floor.

" _This was it...This is how I die,"_ she thought to herself, the massive, hulking boy above her staring through her with vicious, unbreakable determination...

As Yatsuhashi weakly stepped away from her. "There. No more weapons," he muttered, only to glance over to his left hand, where he was still holding his weapon, "Oh, I understand." Before she could comprehend what he meant by that, he swung his arm up and smashed the blade into the wood. He let go, and as expected, it hung from where it had been stabbed without strain, as he looked back down at her. "There. No more weapons."

However, confusion continued to hang over Velvet, as her eyes wandered to the blade for another moment...Before mumbling, "I...I don't understand." Pushing herself off the ground, she continued, "You're...Y-You're supposed to...K-Kill me."

Yatsuhashi blinked at her words, before grimacing and shaking his head. "I told you already. I won't kill you. Or anyone."

Velvet heaved out a heavy breath, her eyes still watering as she whispered out, "But...But they told us-"

"I don't care," he interrupted, "I won't hurt anyone, and if I can help it I'll make sure nobody else can either.." Extending a hand forward, he asked, "I know you're scared...But let me help you...?"

She stared at him for a moment, her mind racing with doubt. However, she reluctantly allowed herself to reach out and accept his hand, "V-Velvet...My name is Velvet."

"That's a nice name," he replied, a soft smile on his face, "well, Velvet, I promise, I won't let anyone hurt you."

Velvet was silent however, as no matter how hard she tried, she found no way to say what she wished to. So instead, she wordlessly wrapped her arms around his large upper body, and embraced him in a soft hug, her eyes still watering, though a smile had now formed on her face. However, she could still feel a thought lingering. One that tugged at her like a tick...

" _I'm going to die."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Unofficial name of this chapter: Cinnamon Rolls...Which is kind of a weird phrase when you think about it. Like, I get it; sweet person, sweet food. But I don't know, I feel like I gotta take a nap when I get through like half of one...Which oddly could be compared to sex fairly easily- off-topic, moving on.**
> 
> **But for real, this was a fun chapter. It was sorta refreshing having a chapter that was mostly peaceful. And fairly short, so that helps. Anyways, I’ve decided I’m going to start writing every day, so who knows, maybe these chapters will start coming out more frequently. We’ll certainly see.**


	8. Friendship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Okay, I say with this chapter we're pretty dang close to this end of this 'volume' as I'll refer to it. And honestly that fact alone makes me really wanna get these things out there. So, I'm gonna go into overtime mode and get these things done so you'll get the next few chapters more consistently. Now, on with the show!**

_Rain pattered against the streets of Remnant, the town having gone eerily quiet during the storm, with nary a car or a bike showing itself out in the weather. A group of four boys, one of which stood towering over the rest with a sadistic smile, walked away from their handiwork, chanting and laughing among themselves from a job well done. Laying on the sidewalk, battered and bruised, with blood spilling out from his mouth and nose, was a single blonde boy, barely conscious as he stared up at the sky in a daze._

" _Hey! Hey, are you okay?!" Someone called out nearby, and for a moment, Jaune found himself lost in thought. Who was that? Who was that serene, welcoming voice...Their words, no matter how faint brought him into a sort of odd bliss, that counteracted the pain in a way that almost made it feel numb._

_He soon found himself staring up at a girl, her emerald eyes staring through him in a panic, "Oh my- who did this to you?!" He took notice of her crimson, curly hair, pushed up into a ponytail. It looked so smooth and silky. "Give me a moment, I'll get help!"_

_And just like that, Jaune found himself falling into unconsciousness, the rain still peppering his face._

* * *

Jaune Arc threw up his head from the stream of water, taking a moment to let out a few heavy gasps for air, as he ran a hand through his hair in a stir. He stared down at the water; clear though swift, as cold as it was relaxing. He splashed a few handfuls of it into his face, as he breathed out in raspy, coarse pants.

"Get it together, Jaune," he murmured, lightly smacking the side of his face as his body shook up and down, "gotta _get it together!"_

Jaune knew something bad was going to happen on the trip. Something bad _always_ happened when he went out of town. But _this_ wasn't what he was expecting. He was expecting to get really bad food poisoning, or maybe fuck up his knee; Hell he already knew there was a chance he was going to get harassed by... _Him_. But...Not this. No this was never even on his radar for the possible bad shit that could happen. Wasn't even in the same ballpark.

He knew it well and true; he wasn't built for this sort of game.

Now, he wasn't really speaking physically. On the contrary, he was actually in a good place. He was tall, though not to absurd lengths like Yatsuhashi Daichi or Sage Ayana. He was athletic, but not really to the same degree as the jocks or Kobalt Wicket. He was muscular, but nowhere near so as Brawnz Ni or Mercury Black. He sorta liked to think of himself as a jack of all trades in that way. He was well-rounded, which certainly wasn't bad.

No, he wasn't built for the _mentally_. As any of his friends would attest, he wasn't really the most confident person. In contrast, he was a full-blown anxious mess. He can barely handle basic social interaction or a pop quiz and now he is being told to go out onto this island killing everyone he sees. All he could say to that was absolutely not, if not for how morally bankrupt it was, than for the simple fact he'd probably mentally _destroy_ himself before anybody else could.

Luckily his weapon more or less assured him he wouldn't be playing. Not because it was useless but more because it was less a weapon and more like...Well, it's a shield. Like a literal, metal shield; the type you'd see in a fantasy game or in one of those movies about knights and dragons. He currently had the leather strap connected to it wrapped around his left arm, so at any moment he could just swing it upward and block whatever is thrown at him.

Couldn't lie, could have been a lot worse.

**Male Student #18: Jaune Arc. Designated Weapon: Metal Vector Shield.**

With another splash of water and a shake of his head, Jaune turned his gaze away from the stream, whispering, "Okay...Okay gotta think. Thinking is what I'm good at. Just gotta think harder than I've ever thought before...Easy."

Without another word he reached into his bag, and pulled out a map, and soon, he felt a surge of confidence. While he may not be very good with _reacting_ to his stress, he sure as Hell knew for a fact he was good at making a plan. Years of playing chess against his old man and his sisters had more than taught him how to go for the gold. It was admittedly probably the only reason he did so good in school; he more or less just predicts a bunch of the questions in advance with proper planning.

And this is no different. Sure, here he's playing with _actual lives_ and not game pieces, but people were still predictable. He could figure this whole thing out. First, he needed to meet up with his friends; Ren and Nora were probably already looking for each other, and Pyrrha knew him so well she'd probably find him before the end of the hour. Ruby is so loud he'll hear her coming quite literally a mile away, same goes for Yang. Then there's his personal hope...

Finding Weiss Schnee. The name alone would occasionally bring a blush to his face. Jaune had admittedly always had a bit of a crush on the girl, but she barely even knew he existed beyond the occasional insult at his incompetency, and even then she insulted just about everyone. But...He always knew there was more to her. Someone hiding beneath the exterior she presented for herself. And that had stuck with him.

... _Anyways_ , he just had to find the six of them. After that, they could pick up anyone sane enough to bring along; Reese, Fox, Sun, maybe even-

"Jaune?"

Jumping at the voice, Jaune swung his head around, only for his eyes to meet those of a boy standing nearby, staring at him with a blank, confused look.

Nolan Porfirio. Jaune couldn't lie, he had always had this weird sorta relationship with Nolan since...Well, they were _kinda_ doppelgangers of each other. Both were natural blondes, had the same body type, born in the same month (April), were from massive, well-off families, and had basically grown up on the same street for most of their lives. Some kids had even mistaken the two for twins at points, at least until Nolan started dying his hair that awkward pinkish-red color and began wearing those square, pink-tinted sunglasses everywhere he went.

The two stared at each other for another moment, as Jaune slowly rose to his feet, saying, "Oh, hey Nolan." Scratching the back of his head, he added on, "Uh...What's up?"

"Um...Nothing much man," Nolan said in response, his words hanging by a thread, as he forced a grin onto his face, "just uh...You know. Surviving. Heh."

...Something was off. Jaune couldn't make out exactly what, but behind those sunglasses and that smile...He couldn't really tell but, something felt very, very off right now. As if he was talking to a stranger and not somebody he's known since he was in diapers.

He sounded scared. Which of course, Jaune couldn't blame him, he was scared too. It just...It sounded strange.

"Yeah...Yeah I getcha," Jaune said, as he glanced back at the stream. He felt uneasy, but...But it was _still_ Nolan. He was harmless. Even when he went through that weird punk phase, he never messed with anyone. He couldn't hurt a fly. "...Sorry for being a bit awkward-"

"No, no, man, it's cool," Nolan confirmed, raising his hands somewhat defensively, "this is like a really crappy situation, dude. I get it."

Jaune couldn't help but force out a low laugh. "Yeah...Crap, it's been forever since we talked. Kinda wish it was under different circumstances though. Without all this...You know," he let out a shorter chuckle, one Nolan halfheartedly reciprocated. After a moment, he added on, "Hey...I'm gonna try and meet up with some friends. Would you want to help me look for them?"

For a moment, Jaune saw Nolan cringe to himself, twitching slightly at the question, before almost becoming statue-like. He simply stared through his friend, his expression souring...Before saying, "Sure...I mean...The more the merrier, right?"

"Yeah!" Jaune responded, a smile having come to his face, "Exactly! And once we have everyone I'll start figuring out how...Well," he pointed at the collar around his throat, " _these_ work, and then I'll get 'em off, and boom, we'll be off this island! Cruising back to shore."

"Sounds great," Nolan responded, forcing enthusiasm as he adjusted the bag around his shoulder.

With a simple smile, Jaune turned away from his friend, lowering himself down once more as he looked at the map beside the stream. "Okay, so I was hoping to maybe meet up with Pyrrha, Ren, and all of them. But we can grab anyone you're cool with too. Who would you-"

Jaune felt a hand wrap around the back of his head, and before he could react, his head was thrown forward. Within moments his head was beneath the water, as a knee pressed against his back, keeping him firmly on the ground, while a foot stomped down hard on the back of his leg. He attempted to scream out in pain, though found it muffled from the water. And soon, his lungs began to burn, pressure closing in on his chest horribly as he thrashed about, throwing his hands up to truth and pry open the hand pushing him deeper into the water. Each passing second felt like an eternity of pain, as he choked more and more on the water.

For a brief moment, he managed to squirm his leg out from under the foot. But that was all the time he needed. Throwing back his elbow, it collided with the face of his attacker, throwing back their head enough for their grip to weaken. With every ounce of his strength, Jaune threw back his body, in the process throwing his would-be-killer off of him and skidding across the dirt.

Rising out of the stream, Jaune instantly broke down into a parade of coughing, each one feeling rough on his neck as he spat up water. Rubbing his throat in pain, he heard a groan nearby causing him to turn toward it, where he saw Nolan Porfirio crumbled on the ground, slowly rising up as he rubbed his cheek. All the while, only one question ran through Jaune's head.

"N-Nolan?" God, speaking alone practically shredded his vocal cords. "W-Why...T-The Hell did you do that for?!"

"...Dammit Jaune...Are you that _fucking stupid,_ " Nolan hisses out, turning to him, his glasses hanging off his face, revealing those eyes. Those beady reddish-brown eyes, usually so full of life.

But they were empty. Cold as Hell, practically lacking in life in every way. They...They didn't even look human.

"No...No not stupid, I know you're not...You're just _fucking_ naive," he continued, putting pressure on his knee as he pushed himself to his feet, a scowl hardening onto his face, "don't you get it...Don't you get it, Jaune! That stupid plan of yours, to _escape!_ To get away from _all this!_ To just go back to how life was before...That isn't happening! That's _never_ going to happen! Do you hear me?!"

Jaune simply stared at Nolan, his eyes wide and body weak, as he watched Nolan reach into his bag with his right arm. "Nolan...P-Please, s-stop, I-I'm not playing-"

"Of course you aren't...I knew the second I saw you what you were, Jaune," Nolan mumbled, "why you're the first person I see out here...You're a test. You're clinging onto shit. Clinging onto the fact we're neighbors, and know each other a little better than average. Pretending me can keep up the same crap that we did back home."

"N-Nolan-"

"Shut up!" He interrupted, his eyes having hardened, "...Like I said Jaune...You're my test...One to see if I've got what it takes to make it off this rock with my life." Nolan slowly revealed something from within his bag; a curved blade, one that almost looked evil with how sinister it appeared. "And I'm not gonna fucking fail."

**Male Student #06: Nolan Porfirio. Designated Weapon: Sickle.**

Jaune stared at his old friend, unsure how to react, as he pushed himself to his feet as well. But after a moment, his own gaze hardened, as he held up his shield. And there the two stood, in a standoff, their weapons in full view, staring each other down like hawks. All was silent...

And then, they ran forward.

* * *

_Jaune's eyes slowly fluttered open at the bright lights above, the bright white ceiling nearly blinding him in the process. Raising an arm over his eyes to block out the light above, it didn't take very long for Jaune to realize he was lying in a hospital bed...In the middle of a hospital room..._

_...He has effectively put together he was indeed in a hospital._

" _Oh, good, you're awake," he flinched at the voice, turning to his left, where he was almost instantly met with the face of perhaps one of the most gorgeous girls he had ever seen in his life. A tall, matured athletic body, with long curly red hair and those beautiful emerald eyes...She was...She was-_

_Shaking away these thoughts, his gaze narrowed, as he smiled, "Uh, yeah- sorry, I uh...Who're you?"_

_The girl gave him a blank look for a moment, before quickly forcing a smile. "I'm Pyrrha. Pyrrha Nikos." She hummed for a moment...Before adding on, "And you're...Jaune Arc, right?" His eyes widened slightly, as he shifted in his bed and gave her a look. "I saw you during orientation at the school. For Junior year."_

" _Oh...Oh!" He quickly realized what this meant, "So we're going to the same school! Sorry, I uh...I didn't realize-"_

" _It's fine," she interrupted, "this is my first year here, so I didn't expect you to know me." His body seemed to relax slightly at this, as a frown formed on her face, "Though, on that note...Do you know who did this to you?"_

_And almost instantly, any life seemed to vanish from Jaune's face, as a hard glare formed and he turned to stare up at the ceiling, "Yeah...It was..." He seemed to struggle to find the words he was looking for. "...You know what, I'll just...Tell you later."_

" _Oh..." Pyrrha lowly muttered, as she looked off herself. "...Anyways, I think it's best I get going," she stood up from the chair she had been sitting in, before giving him a quick bow, "it was nice properly meeting you, Jaune." Giving him a short wave, she quickly began to exit the room._

" _W-Wait," she came to a stop, glancing back at him, as he asked, "would you want to hang out later this week? It'd probably pay to have a friend or two before the school year."_

_Pyrrha stared at him in silence for a moment...Before giving him a soft look, "Assuming you're out of here by then, sure." Turning back toward the door, she began to walk out of it, giving him another wave, before disappearing from sight._

_Jaune Arc sat in silence, laying in his hospital bed while staring up at the ceiling...Before groaning, "And I forgot to give her my number...Great."_

* * *

Nolan screeched out like an animal as he swung his sickle forward, grinding across Jaune's shield. He swung it forward again, and again, and again and again, it was practically never ending, each slash letting out a high-pitched hiss.

Jumping back for a moment to catch his breath, Nolan nonetheless kept on his toes, circling Jaune like a vulture as he held out his weapon. "Shit...This remind you of something, Jaune? Like...A movie or some crap, right?" He threw on that grin again, as he pushed up his sunglasses. "Maybe one of the games those kids in the neighborhood would host, with the wrestling and punching each other and crap."

Jaune grimaced at his words, holding his shield close. "N-Nolan...If you're going to kill me...S-Stop acting s-so fake." Man, his throat hurt...If he got out of this he was chugging a water bottle without hesitation- ...Okay maybe that wasn't the best idea.

Nolan soon returned the glare, growling out, "Fucking dammit, Jaune...I'm already having to kill my friend. If I don't pretend to enjoy this shit, it'll give me nightmares for the rest of my-"

"We're _n-not_ friends!" Jaune screeched, as his throat burned up on the inside. "...L-Like you s-said...We _knew_ each o-other, for a l-long time even...But we weren't friends. Friends don't do _this_ to each other." He narrowed his scowl. "S-So...Just s-shut up."

Nolan simply stared at Jaune for a moment, speechless...Before huffing, pushing up his glasses again as he spat out, "Fine...Hopefully it'll make this a bit easier."

Pouncing forward once more, Nolan's sickle sliced through the air in an under-handed swing, as Jaune swiped his left hand forward, causing the shield to smack into the side of the blade and push it away. Taking his chance, Jaune swung his right hand, now balled up into a fist, as it collided with Nolan's face, pushing him back a couple feet, before then kicking his left foot forward, which collided with the center of Nolan's stomach. This much was just enough to knock him off balance and fall to the ground.

Spitting out a tooth that Jaune had knocked loose, Nolan's teeth smashed together as he shrieked like a banshee, jumping to his feet and slashing once more. This time, Jaune wasn't fast enough to block the strike, instead reflexively jumping back to avoid it, as the blade narrowly tore through his pants and slightly skimmed the skin behind it. Jaune flinched for a moment, but otherwise quickly regained composure.

"Give me another chance, and I'll leave more than a scratch, Jaune," Nolan hissed out.

However, if Jaune wanted to respond, he sure wasn't going to act like he did. Instead, he balanced himself once more, holding out the shield like a weapon, before charging forward with a scream of his own. His entire body weight collided with Nolan at full force, instantly knocking both of them to the ground, with Jaune on top of Nolan. With another scream, he rose the shield up high in the air, before bringing it down full force, as Nolan's eyes went wide.

The shield smashed into the center of Nolan's face, as he cried out in pain. Jaune cringed at the sound of a bone snapping; he just broke Nolan's nose.

" _You fucking bastard,"_ Nolan hollered, raising his free hand up and grabbing onto the side of Jaune's face, before pressing down his thumb against Jaune's right eye. He had just enough time to close it, but the pressure alone was enough to hurt like Hell, as Jaune swiftly got up off of him and jumped back a few feet, rubbing his face in pain, as Nolan did the same, covering his cracked, bleeding nose while crying into the palm of his hand.

"Piece of- dammit Jaune, you busted my nose!" Nolan screamed, pulling away the hand just enough for Jaune to see what he had done. Sure enough, the nose was pushed in and crooked off to the left, almost twisted in a strange way, as blood flooded out of it to a point it was now covering the bottom half of his face.

Hissing, Nolan pulled up the sickle once more, "I'm fucking _done_ with this shit!" Running forward as fast as he could, Nolan prepared to swing his weapon one last time.

Then a short, violent explosion rings through the air, and the ground right in front of Nolan goes flying into the air. The pair of boys come to a stop, pale as ghosts as they turn toward where it had come from.

Standing across from them, rifle in hand, was Pyrrha Nikos, her red hair flowing with the wind and her eyes steely and hard. Smoke rose up from the gun, as she simply stated, "Nolan...Walk away. Now."

**Female Student #21: Pyrrha Nikos. Designated Weapon: .405 Winchester Rifle.**

Nolan quickly threw up his arms, mumbling, "N-Now hold on a second there, Pyrrha-"

" _Now!"_ She screeched with such ferocity that Jaune wasn't aware she had in her.

Without a need for another warning, Nolan quickly adjusted his bag and took off into the forest. Within seconds, he was completely out of sight, as Jaune simply...Stared on. Silent, unable to properly process what just happened.

And before he knew it, tears started to run down his face.

Collapsing to his knees, Jaune wiped a hand across his face as his entire body began to shake violently. He felt a need to throw up, which he barely managed to hold back, and instead he just continued to shake, his mind wandering to places he didn't know existed. Someone he thought was his friend...Just tried to kill him. And in response, Jaune broke his nose. He...He didn't even-

Despite his resistance, Jaune found himself turning toward the stream once more, and violently vomiting into it. Meanwhile, Pyrrha walked up to him in silence, a soft, understanding look on her face. Kneeling down beside him as he finished up, she placed a hand on his shoulder, which he cringed at for a moment, before whispering, "Jaune...Are you okay?"

"N-No...N-No I'm n-not okay," Jaune muttered, as he wiped his head with his arm, "N-Nolan just...H-He-"

"He wasn't the Nolan you knew." Jaunt turned to Pyrrha as she said this, her hands now practically caressing the gun in her hands. "This...This game. It changes people, Jaune. Turns them into animals. Makes them do things they never thought they could. Makes them hurt people they considered friends. Makes them..." Her words trailed off, as if in deep thought, before shaking her head, "...Some people can't handle this game, Jaune."

Jaune stared at her for a couple moments, as he let out a series of coughs, before rubbing his throat, "I know already I can't. I...I don't think I could handle something l-like that again."

"...Well, then we'll simply be careful from here on out," she mumbled in response, allowing a smile to form as she turned to him. "Don't worry Jaune...We have each other now...Right?"

He sniffed to himself, before forcing himself to stand straight, "R-Right."

"And we won't let anything happen to each other, right?"

Jaune allowed a small smile to return to his face. "R-Right...Right."

Pyrrha gave him a proud look, "Good...Now," she pulled herself and him to their feet, taking a moment to dust him off with her hand, before giving him a smile, "let's go find Ren and Nora, okay?"

"Yeah...Yeah, you're right," he chuckled out, a bittersweet expression shining in the darkness, "t-thanks by the way...For you know...Saving my life."

"No need to thank me at all, Jaune," she simply stated, "you'd have done the same for me...Though _probably_ with a bit more tripping up if I had to guess."

The two shared a short-lived laugh, his eyes half-open and barely paying the conversation much mind as he sarcastically muttered, "Yeah, ha ha, very funny..." Giggling to herself, Pyrrha was about to start walking away...Only to stop as his hand wrapped around her arm, "but, really, Pyrrha," she turned, only to see him staring at her, his baby blue eyes shimmering faintly, "thank you...For everything."

Pyrrha simply stared at him for a moment, but soon, allowed herself to give him a soft, comforting look, as she took his hand and pulled him into the forest, side-by-side. However, in the darkness, Pyrrha couldn't help but feel a twinge of pain in her heart, as her smile was soon replaced by a knowing scowl.

" _It's nice to see you again, my little spitfire..."_

* * *

Blake Belladonna sat on the stump of the tree in silence, her eyes wandering across the weapon in her hands; a simple dagger, designed in such a way to be thrown. With a scowl, she slid it across the wood, watching it carve out a long, wavy scratch. After a moment, she mumbled, "It's good enough."

With a shake of her head, she sat up from where she was with a scowl, before walking into the trees. Determination flowed through her, as she focused her mind on one simple goal.

Kill Pyrrha Nikos. At _all_ costs.

**Female Student #09: Blake Belladonna. Designated Weapon: Throwing Knives (12x).**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Okay, I won't lie, that confrontation between Jaune and Nolan was easily one of my favorite parts to write so far. So much fun! Honestly, I think this is my favorite chapter I've written so far. So yeah, I got this one done super fast for all of you. Hope you enjoy!**


	9. Knight in False Armor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **So, just a bit of a heads up; this is a shorter chapter. I don't know, the plots introduced here I think are important to the greater story, but at the exact same time, similar to Arslan/Scarlet's chapter...I don't think it requires this huge amount of time dedicated to it. You know what I mean? I'm gonna assume you do so we can get on with this.**

Waves crashed against the sand with brutish force, each time smashing into the wall of sharp rocks at the edge of the beach. A cool breeze blew through the hair of one Sun Wukong, as he shivered to himself while leaning against the cliff-side beside them. "Damn...Neptune better hurry up man, I'm freezing over here!"

"We're only waiting for him at your insistence," a second voice grunted down, his massive upper body and dark skin turning him into something comparable to a bear in the darkness, as he ran a hand along his weapon; a long axe with red paint along the top.

**Male Student #10: Sage Ayana. Designated Weapon: Fire Axe.**

"I know that...Doesn't mean I can't complain about it just a little," Sun said, a sheepish smile on his face.

Once again, his companion simply grunted in irritation, before mumbling, "If we're really gonna keep waiting here, maybe you could sing us something with that thing you got."

The boy blinked at this, a frustrated grimace forming on his face as he held out an object; a wooden instrument with a square body with three strings. "You seriously think I know how to play this, dude? This thing looks _ancient!_ Like the sort of thing my pops would buy on clearance from a shady thrift shop."

**Male Student #05: Sonny "Sun" Wukong. Designated Weapon: Shamisen.**

"Well, 'ya better learn, cause I'm gettin' real impatient waiting for that smarmy pretty boy," Sage snarled out, by this point having begun to poke the axe against a nearby rock.

Sun scowled slightly at his companion's comment, though soon relaxed a bit as he ran a hand through his blonde curls. He couldn't really blame Sage after all; he had never really gotten along with Neptune the best anyways back in the locker room, so waiting on him probably isn't his favorite activity. But he had organized this meet-up for a reason; strength in numbers. The more people they had on their side, the less people would wanna mess with them. Solid plan. Too bad he couldn't get the idea to Scarlet before he left...Hope that guy's doing okay out there.

But beyond that, he was both glad and shocked when Sage agreed to meet-up. Some of the other players from the football team didn't seem too interested; Brawnz, Kobalt, even Yatsuhashi. Yet Sage, probably the biggest loner, and to be honest, the angriest guy on the team, decided to show himself. Guess the guy trusted the team more than he let on. Or at least, that's what Sun likes to-

"Sorry I'm late, guys. Sorta spent some time getting myself together for the meeting."

Sun and Sage turned to stare down the new figure walking along the beach, and sure enough, it was an all too familiar pretty boy. Tall, handsome, combed up black hair with a blue streak down the side, those insane eyes of his that were practically hypnotic to any of the girls in school; he was Neptune Vasilias. The class horndog. And in his hands was perhaps the most unique between the three of them; a retractable, fold-in pitchfork-like object that looked straight out of some movie about Atlantis, that stood out so much in the darkness from both its sheer size and bright golden color, it was practically a walking 'shoot me' sign in itself.

**Male Student #20: Neptune Vasilias. Designated Weapon: Golden Trident.**

Sage let out a whistle at the weapon, smiling slightly as he pointed at the new arrival, "Wouldn't you know, they gave you a weapon just as vain and fake as you."

Neptune glared at the comment, but soon found himself distracted by Sun cheering, before standing back from the wall, "Awesome, we're all together now!" After a moment though...He blinked awkwardly, before scratching the back of his head. "So uh...What's the plan guys?"

As expected, Sage gave him a look. "You were the one who arranged the meet-up, you tell us."

"I didn't think _that_ far ahead, give me a break here," Sun explained, an embarrassed blush having formed on his face, "all that matters is that the three of us are here. At least now none of us are alone, right?" However, his far larger companion merely grunted, before going back to inspecting his axe.

"Well if you don't got plans, I already know what I want to do," Neptune injected himself into the conversation, his usual smirk having returned to his face as he pushed back his hair flashily, "I'm finding Weiss."

"Seriously?" Sun asked, confusion having run over his face, "Dude, you sure that's a good idea. Don't really know if she even _wants_ to see you right now, especially after the whole...Well-"

"Ever since you slept with Octavia and tried to get away with it," Sage stated firmly.

"...Yeah, that," Sun confirmed.

However, in turn Neptune's expression twisted into one of hatred and frustration, his grip tightening around his weapon as he barked out, "It's all Octavia's fault all right! It wasn't _supposed_ to happen, and it isn't my fault she fucking blabbed-" Biting his tongue, he scoffed as he threw the weight of his weapon onto his shoulder. "You know what, I don't gotta explain shit, alright. I'm gonna find Weiss, and keep her safe. I doubt that's all too bad of a thought."

Sun's hesitation continued to shine through for a few more moments, before eventually letting out a low groan. "I mean...It's better than nothing I guess." He glanced at Sage, "Unless you got better ideas."

"...I have something in mind," Sage mumbled, his attention finally on the pair beyond simple annoyance, "though it'll come to pass with time. I can wait."

"Cool, then it's decided!" Neptune declared, a polished, glossy smirk on his face, "We're looking for my girl. Then from there we'll figure shit out as it happens. Simple as that." The other two boys gave their own looks of agreement, as a smirk latched itself onto Neptune's face once more.

" _A real knight in shining armor, that's what I'll be. Then...Then she'll have to take me back."_

* * *

Walking through the forest slowly though accurately, Weiss Schnee had quickly resolved herself from her..."Breakdown" earlier. The thought of that classroom alone sickened her from her actions alone. She had broken the one rule. The most important rule of the Schnee family.

_Never show weakness._

It was a slip-up, and she knew it. If she had to guess that was the first time any of her classmates had probably ever seen her cry. Even the few she was close to, she would rarely allow herself to open up to them much beyond the occasional compliment. Anything more would simply be too much. She would have gotten too close to the very people her family must manipulate to continue their power.

Since then she had taken time to go cold. Ice cold. If she wanted to win this game she needed to disassociate herself from everything in the outside world beyond her Schnee origins. It was in her blood to win after all, but in this sort of place, even the smallest mistake would mean her own demise.

But Schnees don't make mistakes.

Unfortunately, it appeared that even with the girls getting an advantage with weapons, she hadn't quite gotten the sort of item she desired. On first inspection it was the hilt of a knife, though if she pressed the button on the side, a long narrow blade would sprout out from it. Even just looking at it disgusted her on a personal level. It was the weapon of a juvenile barbarian; the sort of people who could do no good on account of focusing far too much on the torture of innocent lives. Truly despicable.

**Female Student #19: Weiss Schnee. Designated Weapon: Switchblade.**

With a shake of her head, she hid the weapon between her skirt and her shirt, the school uniform that she usually found to be too poor for her tastes having finally come in handy for once. Regardless of how miserable the current situation was, she couldn't let it distract her; she had a job to do. She had to win. And judging by the gunshot she heard earlier, her classmates would be playing just as hard as her-

As she was walking, she found herself tripping up on her heels, causing her to yelp as she fell to the ground, landing on it softly but causing her to roll down a small hill. With a groan, she rubbed a hand across her head while she looked up-

Blood...Not a lot of it but enough to stand out in the moonlight. And beside it, a body. The body of Roy Stallion, his skin having gone pale and his eyes bulging out as he stared up at the sky. A soft hand imprint laid around his throat. He looked like he had been in so much pain.

Raising a hand to her mouth, she simply stared on in horror at the boy, as she shook in place and squeaked in terror. She pushed herself up against the hill, as she simply stared at his corpse. No words could be spoken, as she looked on, the horrors of the situation truly settling in.

And soon, she couldn't help but scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Yep, important stuff. I seriously considered throwing in another scene here to give this chapter a bit more meat, but decided against it. Ultimately, some chapters are long, others are short. Simple as that.**


	10. Roman Torchwick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Well...Here it is. The end of the first volume. Honestly this whole thing has been this oddly nostalgic affair; I got to go back and rewatch some of the older seasons of RWBY (which while the best of the show I still consider a bit of a guilty pleasure), rewatched Battle Royale, read the novel and manga again, played Fortnite for the first time since the game first came out (did that game get like...100x easier by the way?), read Battlestuck again (which genuinely is the best BR-inspired story, hands-down, go read it even if you know nothing about the property it's based off of), and more.**
> 
> **Basically I've had fun reliving some stuff to get motivation for this. But at the same time, after this chapter basically all of the set-up is more or less done. From here on out I don't have specific stuff I want/need to do; I'm just gonna do whatever I want and hope you guys like it. So, relax, sit back, and (hopefully) enjoy.**

Night slowly turned to day as the sky began to glow a faint grey, storm clouds having come in over the horizon, turning the image from cruelly silent darkness to suspensefully lifeless melancholy. Walking up a hill along a gravel path was a boy, the overshirt of his school uniform taken off and wrapped around his waist, as he whistled somberly to himself.

In his right hand was some sort of pistol; a revolver to be specific. It was bulky and a little on the heavier side, but at the same time, just holding the thing made the boy smirk a little; so much power in such a little thing. Kinda scary to think about, but hey, he's the one pointing it at people at least and not the other way around. Certainly helps he was used to shooting these things at home, though he only ever used blanks...

...Well, _mostly_ used blanks.

He couldn't help but squint for a moment, before shaking away the thought. _"That bastard doesn't matter anymore. Win this game and that shit all goes away; need a spotless record for their winner after all."_ Smirking a bit at this thought, his fingers fiddled around the trigger. _"My name and face splattered across those DvDs...Mercury Black, bad boy of Battle Royale."_

**Male Student #21: Mateo "Mercury" Black. Designated Weapon: Smith & Wesson Model 27.**

* * *

The soldier looked down at the papers in his hands, which divulged the results of the last six hours of gameplay. And as he looked them over, he couldn't help but feel himself sweating at the seams. "Boss ain't gonna like this..."

Walking through the door and into the control room, the soldier could make out most of his comrades going about their usual business; checking the cameras for good footage, keeping track of the players via their collars, playing cards or eating lunch in their downtime, the works. He had never gotten along particularly well with any of them; he was the youngest member of the team sent out here, and they all seemed to have some sort of grudge against him he couldn't place. But sprawled out on a couch in the center of the room, a certain redheaded man was humming to himself, watching the big game on the television.

"Uh...S-Sir-" The soldier stammered out, his hands shaking wildly, only for the poor thing to flinch back as soon as the man held up a hand, signaling him to shut up.

"Give me a moment," he spoke gently, a smile plastered across his face, even though the soldier couldn't see it, "it'll go to commercial soon enough. Once it does, you can talk to me."

"B-But m-mister-" he whimpered upon the redhead swiveling his head back to stare the soldier down, a smile on his face, though his eyes...Those horrible, soulless eyes. Their gaze alone shattered what little strength the soldier had in him instantly, as he practically froze in place.

The redhead held up one finger, placing it to his mouth while staring the soldier in the eyes. "One minute...That is all I ask of you...Do you understand?" Before he could receive an answer, he turned back to the tv with the same smile.

However, the soldier's eyes shifted toward his watch. Only fifteen minutes to six. The amount of prep time needed required him to be ready now...With a shaky hand, and a gulp, he said, "M-Mister Torchwick, you n-need to see this now-"

A small discharge of fire erupted outward, and before the soldier could react, the left side of his face exploded. Blood splattered across the floor in front of him, and by extension onto the face of his attacker, before he collapsed to the floor, twitching on the ground. The soldier was alive, if barely; his tongue had been torn in half and his left eye dangled by a thread of flesh, and the few teeth that remained were mangled beyond comprehension. His head was angled upward to stare at the ceiling, gurgling out malformed sentences few could understand.

The soldiers around the room stared on in shock, though none moved an inch. Blowing off the steam rising from the barrel of the gun, the redhead smiled while shaking his head. "One minute. That's all I asked for. You youth can be so rude you know." He looked over the pistol in his hand, humming, "You know...This thing is a lot of fun to use," he turned toward a nearby soldier, "what's the name of this gun?"

The tallest, and at the same time most overweight, soldier in the room blinked at this, scratching his head while grunting, "Uh...Flintlock, boss."

"Ah, flintlock! Now isn't that a fun name," he cooed, a big grin on his face, "make a note to include that in the next game, would you, Wick?" The large soldier threw up a thumbs-up in response. "Very good...Very good indeed."

**BR ACT #151 Game Instructor: Roman "Charon" Torchwick. Designated Crew: 34 armed soldiers + 1 assistant.**

Torchwick was interrupted by the soldier gurgling on the floor. "...Oh yeah. Forgot about you for a second." He looked over the gun in his hands, before placing it back in his pocket. Torchwick than looked down at the floor, where he saw papers scattered across it, now covered in fresh blood. He blinked, before lowering himself to the ground, picking up the papers and standing up. Getting them back in order, he turned back to the couch and sat down in it, before snapping his fingers. "Somebody finish what I started with the dog."

Two soldiers promptly got up and walked toward the soldier's crumbled body, picking him up and dragging him out of the room, as he whined and screamed out in horrible pain. Soon enough though, his cries for mercy faded from earshot, as Torchwick hummed and looked over the papers. His face soon twisted into a disappointed glare, letting out a low sigh. "Oh those poor, stupid children...Already my kills match their total combined. Pathetic."

With a sinister smirk however, Torchwick muttered, "Guess I'll simply have to grind it into their heads how to _actually_ play this game."

A gunshot rang off just outside the base, and instantly, the cries of pain were replaced with ear-piercing silence.

* * *

Mercury Black stood in silence, looking up the hill at the bounty he had traveled all that way for...Though to be honest, 'bounty' was being generous. A more apt description would be it looked like a piece of shit.

It was a small, one-story wooden house, painted white and pink with cracked wood, which had a fence surrounding it on all sides, connected by a rusty metal gate. Plants had overgrown to lengths where they practically covered the house on all sides, with trees and bushes giving it a layer of camouflage to a degree. A few chickens were scrambling around outside, plucking at their feathers and clucking as they went about their business, and there was a big pile of tin cans held together loosely with thin white rope.

Mercury looked it over for a couple seconds, before sighing and smiling. "Still better than home."

* * *

Scarlet leaned over into the stream, cupping his hands and filling them with water, before taking a long, hard gulp of it. With a relieved sigh, he wiped his mouth, and stared down at his reflection, his face contorting into one of disgust. He looked like a mess; only six hours out in the wilderness, and he was already splattered with mud and grime. What he'd give for a good shower right now...

With a shake of his head, he pushed himself to his feet, taking a moment to stretch as he thought over his options. He could try meeting up with some of the guys from the team, though admittedly, his options were limited. For all his mocking, he wouldn't mind Neptune, he could at least hold a decent conversation with him when he wasn't being a moron. Sage wouldn't be too bad either; he was probably one of the only people on the team who got along with the behemoth.

The others were a bit more of a toss-up. Him and Kobalt were good friends, but if he had to guess, he was probably searching, or may have even hooked up with that boyfriend of his. Third-wheeling was atrocious out of the game, Scarlet couldn't imagine how miserable it'd be _in_ it. Brawnz meanwhile was so up his own ass with that ego of his it just wasn't even _worth_ talking to him outside the games; at least Neptune could take a joke, Brawnz was just a prick. Nadir was barely worth considering as an option considering how pathetic he is, no matter how strong he may seem. And Yatsuhashi...Nice guy but...When somebody is _that_ big, if he were playing he could snap his neck like a twig, and even if he wasn't, chances are he'd stand out a mile away.

And...Then there's Sun...

...

...No. No, he could...He could deal with him in groups and on the bus, but not alone. There's too much baggage there.

With a sigh, he reluctantly began walking back into the woods. _"Guess I just have to pray I'll get lucky-"_

Before he could finish that thought though, his collar sprang to life, causing Scarlet let out a squeak and launched himself against a nearby tree and holding onto it for dear life.

* * *

Arslan glanced up at the brightening sky, narrowing her eyes slightly, before shaking her head. Standing up, she called out, "Alright...It's morning. We need to get moving."

Groans erupted from the trio nearby, as they quickly got together their bags. The tallest of the trio was Bolin Hori, who was rubbing his bruised cheek, though managed to force a smile through the pain. "Why so serious, Alice? We got three whole days to slaughter these guys. A little relaxation never killed anybody-"

Before he could finish though, he felt a knife press against his throat, causing his eyes to widen. Arslan stared through him, grinding her teeth as she hissed out, " _You_ do _not_ get to call me, Alice, not after what you did..."

"Woah, woah," a third voice spoke up, one that was distinctly feminine though a little rough around the edges. The pair glanced at her, where a short girl with ragged, dyed green hair was standing, an awkward smile on her face. She was wearing a thick sweater over her school uniform, and oddly enough, her arms and legs were surprisingly muscular despite how thin she was. She softly muttered, "Let's uh...You know, not kill each other, okay? We're a team, right?"

Arslan's look softened slightly at this, glancing back at Bolin, who stared at her, before wiggling his eyebrows and giving her a smile of his own. She shivered in disgust at the gesture, before shaking her head and pulling back the knife. "Let's go." She walked forward, before kicking at someone on the ground. "Up and at 'em, Nadir."

The fourth and final figure jumped up at this, his eyes wide and his body still shaking. He had dark skin and a muscular body, having been on the football team with some of his classmates. His hair had been tied up into a ponytail, while the sides had been shaved off, giving him a peculiar look, even for the class. Nadir rubbed the top of his head, before pushing himself up off the ground. "S-Sorry Arslan...I was just a little tired is all."

Arslan gave him a harsh look, before scoffing, "It's fine...But we need to get going-"

As she was saying this though, her collar came to life, rumbling in place, same as the other three, all of their eyes widening in fear. After a moment though, they went still, and a voice came through the speaker.

"Good morning, students!"

* * *

Ren couldn't help but scowl slightly at the voice, holding a hand out over the collar for a moment, before shaking his head and taking a seat back onto the hill. "D2...I told you D2," he rubbed a palm over his head. She understood what he meant, right? With the hand signals? Was she lost? Was she just taking a bit...

Had she encountered someone?

"As of now, you're officially six hours into the game. Congratulations, if you're hearing this, you're still alive!"

Ren was only half paying attention, as he stared out into the woods. "Nora, where are you?"

* * *

"Unfortunately, this class has severely disappointed me with the results of this early game."

Neptune couldn't help but feel a shiver run down the back of his spine at the man's words, rubbing his neck anxiously as he held his weapon close to his chest. Walking slightly behind him, Sun growled out under his breath, "Bastard."

"Yes, insult the man capable of blowing our heads off our necks," Sage muttered while giving his companion a side glare, "very smart."

"Knock it off," Neptune quickly said, giving Sage a look, which silenced him reluctantly. Neptune returned his stare forward, his expression softening. "Weiss...Please be okay."

* * *

Nolan dabbed a wet piece of torn clothing on his nose, cringing at the pain, though reluctantly continuing to do so. "C-Couldn't have taught us how to fix this kind of thing...Freaking je-"

"I'm afraid that only one of you has perished in the last six hours."

Nolan flinched a bit at this, going silent for a moment, before shaking away his words. "C-Can't focus on that...H-Hell I just tried to add onto that like...An hour ago." This brought to mind the image of a certain blonde, as he narrowed his gaze into one of anger and...Regret. With a light smack to the side of his face though, he quickly got back to what he was doing.

* * *

Velvet grabbed onto Yatsuhashi's arm, her skin having paled as she held him close, murmuring, "S-Someone's...D-De...Dead..." Shaking where she sat, she pushed up against the far larger boy, who simply tilted his head down in respect, closing his eyes and raising a single hand to his head, as he began to mumble a prayer.

"I will admit, some of the more promising students weren't let out until later in the class, but this is no excuse!"

* * *

Blake stared out from the top of a tree, her gaze narrowed as she passed the knife in her hands between fingers, as she looked up toward the sky. "Just gotta keep hinting at it," she mumbled, letting out a low growl, "just tell them why she's so promising, already..."

With a shake of her head, she jumped to the next tree, grabbing onto it with a rough palm and pulling herself up to the top of it.

"You all simply must realize, this is a _game!_ Only one of you is going to make it out of here alive. While your little interactions are half the fun, so is the bloodshed."

* * *

"It's no matter though, guess I'll just need to add a little incentive. That can wait though. Onto the more important part."

Ruby stared out the window with a hurt expression, as if her whole world had shattered, as she grabbed onto her left arm with her other hand, tightening her grip as she shook in place a moment, only to look away and turn her attention back to the inside of the room, where Penny was going through her bag, looking for her compass and map.

With a narrowed gaze, Ruby looked toward the ground, whispering, "Yang...I know you're okay...Please, please let me be right about that."

* * *

Nora leaned against the boulder, her hands gripping down onto her sledgehammer as she stared forward, the tears having dried on her face. She threw out her right arm swinging the hammer one-handed earlier, when she was getting attacked by...By...

"It's time to reveal who among you has perished. Each announcement, I'll be announcing the deaths in order of who died."

Nora's eyes widened in realization, "N-No...No, it's not-"

"Boy #19, Roy Stallion, and while I'm disappointed he's the only one to note this day, I will say it was quite the interesting way to open this game! So to whichever one of you did it, you have my thanks."

Nora's eyes began to water, as she threw her hand to her mouth, covering it tightly as she tried hard to muffle her screams.

* * *

Yang slowly rose from her stir, sitting up from the tree she had slept against for the past hour or so. She glanced to her right, only to see, as she expected, no Ruby; just the crappy school and the hills surrounding it on all sides. She hadn't stuck around like she had been opening...Smart move, but...She was worried-

"On that note, as punishment for such a low body count, we'll be opening the game with an announcement of four dead zones, so get out your map!"

The blonde's eyes grew at this, scrambling to open her bag and tear out her map, as he continued.

"I'll be reading off the zone, then the time! Try and look out for landmarks to determine where you are."

As Yang pulled out her map though, she paled a bit at his next words.

"Starting at 6:30, as expected, E-4. That means the school!"

Yang looked on in worry, before shaking her head, grabbing onto her bag, and breaking off into a sprint into the forest. "Crap, crap, _crap-"_

* * *

Adjusting her sunglasses, Coco Adel stared down at the waters of the Koi Pond, her mind racing to all kinds of images at the man's words. Most of which involved some variation of her strangling him. But that wasn't really an option right now, was it? Instead, you're sitting on the ground, marking off two maps cause Fox can't see shit.

Blind, lucky bastard.

"At 8:00, F-10. And at 9:30, I-5. Remember it!"

Coco had to admit, she...Didn't really have a plan for this game just yet. Sure, she had a couple of ideas, but that's it; ideas. Concepts, really. Nothing concrete or good enough to get them out of this dump. And by that point, that was her only option. She had always put up this front of being this tough girl. Somebody who wasn't scared of anything or anyone. Who backtalked some of the toughest kids in class and never got so much as a slap on the wrist in response. Of anyone, you'd be forgiven for thinking she'd be good in this sort of game.

But God, she wasn't a killer. She couldn't even imagine hurting somebody all that bad, so killing them? No way in Hell was that gonna fucking happen. The thought alone could've made her pass out. No matter how much some of her classmates got on her nerves, none of them deserved to die out here...

Coco couldn't help but make a small mental note to find Roy's parents after the game and give them your condolences. Poor guy.

"Then, at 11:00, D-1. Got that? D-1. And that's all of them!"

Okay...And that's it.

Handing the map over to her blind companion, she helped him to his feet, before pulling him forward. "Come on, Fox. We got shit to do today."

"Got a plan, pussycat?" Fox asked, a small smirk having formed on his face.

"A plan? Not yet." Coco confirmed, albeit begrudgingly, before narrowing her eyes, "But...I need to find someone. That's at least a start."

"Then lead the way."

"What do you think I'm doing right now, asshole?"

* * *

"With that, I'm off. I recommend picking things up. If I don't see at least a few more kills by the end of the next six hours, I _will_ double the number of dead zones! With that said, good luck, class!"

Jaune let out a low sigh at the end of the announcements, sitting back against the tree, the strain on his throat still there, but nowhere near as bad as it was earlier. He turned to look up, watching as Pyrrha stared out at a small portion of the island from the top of one of the trees. "See anything up there, Pyrrha?" His voice was rough, but had also basically recovered by this point.

Pyrrha didn't respond for a moment, before calling back, "I see a hospital. Less than a mile or two away." She jumped down from the tree, landing gracefully and unharmed in the process, before giving him an empathetic smile. "You're positive you can move?"

He let out a low laugh, returning the smile. "Yeah, I don't think Nolan hurt me much beyond the neck." Despite the chuckle though, a faint look of anguish returned to his face, as he ran a head along his shield, Nolan's blood having stained the bottom of it.

"...It had to be done, Jaune," Pyrrha whispered, "he was trying to kill you, it was simply self-defense."

"I know, but-"

"There is no 'but'," she interrupted, turning to him with a strained glare, "Jaune...As much as I hate to admit it, this game is going to have a lot of people out to get us. We have to be prepared for _anyone_ trying something. Even Nora and Ren-"

"They wouldn't do that!" Jaune spoke up, a stern scowl on his face. "They aren't playing. I know that."

"I-" However, Pyrrha quickly bit her tongue at his look. The two simply stared at each other a moment, before Pyrrha broke the silence with a sigh, turning away. "Sorry, sorry...I know they aren't playing, I'm just..."

"Scared?" He asked, his glare having softened. "I...I get it. I'm scared too...But we're gonna be okay." Another awkward period of silence emerged between the two, the girl's hands tightening around her rifle as thousands of thoughts ran through her head at once. Eventually though, Jaune asked, "So...You said a mile or two, right? If we get going now, we'll be there before the end of the hour."

Pyrrha didn't respond for a moment, though managed to force a smile and turn to him. "Yeah...Yeah, let's get going." The pair quickly embarked toward the hospital, though Pyrrha couldn't help but remain eerily quiet.

" _If I don't see at least a few more kills by the end of the next six hours, I will double the number of dead zones!"_

" _We have to be prepared for anyone trying something?"_

" _I get it. I'm scared too."_

Pyrrha narrowed her eyes, her thoughts returning in waves as she stared forward. He was right, she was scared; everyone on this island is scared. And when you're scared, you get desperate. Perhaps do something you wouldn't normally, just for a chance to survive this madness. You'll lie to yourself, saying you can do this; saying you can win. But those players? They never win. They simply take a few with them on the way out. And sometimes...Sometimes its your friends who just need a little push.

" _There's so much you don't know Jaune. About this game. About how to play it."_ Pyrrha thought to herself, as she straightened her back. _"Which is why I won't let you be harmed during this game. You won't need to know...I'll keep you safe. I've lost so much already, I can't lose you. Anyone but you."_

" _I'll keep you safe, no matter what."_

* * *

" _I'll find you Cinder...And keep you safe, no matter what."_

Emerald Sustrai had been repeating this to herself ever since she had left the classroom. She had planned on sticking around but...Arslan and that coward Nadir scared her off. She knew what Cinder would call that; pathetic. And it was. Emerald hadn't let it go ever since. Even when she came back just to grab Cinder, she was already gone. In and out before the trouble got too intense for her.

It almost made Emerald smile in a way. At least Cinder wasn't changing out here. _"Once I find you, it'll be just like how things were at the school. And you'll figure out how to get out of this one, just like you always do."_ She couldn't help but frown. _"And...And if you can't, then I'll protect you-"_

She came to a stop at a gravel path. Blinking for a moment, she looked up, watching it travel along a hill, up toward...Some kind of house. An old one, sure, but it was something at least. And it was a pretty good vantage point too. Could probably see most of the island if needed.

Emerald couldn't help but smile, as she began to walk up the gravel path, unaware of the boy waiting inside the house, gun in hand, finger on the trigger.

* * *

Roman Torchwick watched on in interest as a "F02" approached "M21" on the screen. With a sinister gleam in his eyes, he sat back down on the couch, letting out a sigh as he laid down for a nap.

He couldn't ask for a better job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **And with that, we have the end of Volume #1: Motivation! Honestly, this was a fun set of chapters to write, though I'm looking forward to the next ones more. From now on, every volume is gonna be a lot more focused on specific narratives. Will certainly help clean up both the pacing and the screentime of the class if you get me.**
> 
> **Because really, that's all volume #1 was ever gonna be; set-up. I've got a lot of shit I really wanna do with this story and having a bunch of chapters just dedicated to writing about it made things a lot easier for me. There's not any huge, underlying theme between any of these chapters, but that'll change soon enough.**
> 
> **On that note, I've recently read "After the Fall" and "Before the Dawn", and I will say it's sorta changed a few things I had in the initial rough drafts of this story since now I have at least some basic characterization to go off of! Well, except for Ivori, Kobalt, Brawnz, and May, I can still basically do whatever I want with them. And Nadir and Bolin sorta. And Sage. Holy crap did they ignore Sage. He's on the cover art for fuck's sake!**
> 
> **Anyways, that's about everything I think. Thanks again for reading guys, and hopefully I should have the next chapter out soon!**


	11. Drugs and Cinders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **VOLUME #2 BITCHES!**

_Watching...Waiting..._ That is literally _all_ May Zedong has been doing since she exited that crappy ass school.

Her weapon? A total joke, man. Pair of binoculars. If she was into like, bird watching, then it'd probably feel sick to get these (and maybe a little ironic). But she doesn't like birds! So the Hell was she supposed to even _do_ with this?! Well...Maybe she could like...Bop 'em on the head or something with it. That'd probably hurt. Besides that, worthless; her luck sucks just as much here as it did on the outside.

**Female Student #08: May Zedong. Designated Weapon: Binoculars.**

But, could be worse she guessed. Got real lucky. Found some big-ass garden shed up on the top of this hill here. And it's a tall-ass hill too. Lot bigger than anything else she could see 'round here. The shed was pretty neato too; lot of room to sleep in, couple o' garden supplies so at least she's got like...A rake to hit someone with, and honestly...This was _not_ the worst hotbox she's ever done.

Taking another drag off her cigarette (thank you assholes for not taking her important shit), she opened up the door to the shed and walked out onto the hill, her binoculars hanging loosely from her fingers as a faint smile rested on her face. Taking a seat on the grass, she pulled up her designated item and held it to her eyes. "Alright...Let's see the kinda' shit my peers are up to.

With her binoculars, she started to scan the island, her eyes eventually falling upon a dark-skinned girl walking up to a small, wooden house.

* * *

Walking up the gravel path, Emerald Sustrai soon got a good look at the house, and to her disappointment, it didn't really look nearly as nice from afar. A beat-up suburb house that just so happens to be in the middle of nowhere. Admittedly, if she found this sort of thing back home, she'd just guess it were the type of crack den that May would coop herself up in after school.

The thought of that girl alone made Emerald grimace. Never really liked her- actually, scratch that, Emerald kinda hated her. Always so crass, so obnoxious. Smelled like gunpowder and cough syrup, with hair as tangled as a noodle cup, which she only hid with that stupid beanie of hers. Then again, her hating someone wasn't exactly a rare thought. To be frank...She didn't really like _most_ people. From her experience, a grand majority are hypocritical, oblivious, outright stupid, or simply make zero attempts to bother being remotely interesting. Beyond that they're annoying. So yeah, she didn't like people. Though there were a handful of exceptions, but she rarely thought about _most_ of them.

As she walked up the house, her eyes settled on a bit more of its characteristics, specifically how...Quiet, it all was. The closer she got to the building, the more and more she realized just how little sound was actually coming from it. After a moment, she reached into her bag, and pulled out her weapon, holding it in her hands with a tight grip. Reluctantly, she began to step forward.

Each step shuffled the grass slightly beneath her feet. The dirt crackled beneath her, and the sun shined down onto her face. Her eyes rested firmly on the door, paying little attention to anything else, as she slowly brought up her weapon to arm level, ready to-

She stepped down, only to feel something beneath her feet. She looked down, and her face paled; a white string, blending in with the earth, pointing off in both directions. The sound of cans and bottles shuffling broke out within the silence, and the door was thrown open by a new figure, whose revolver clicked as they pulled back the hammer with a thumb. In response, Emerald threw up her own weapon, taking aim.

And so, the two stood, staring each other down, weapons at the ready, a mere ten feet apart. In the doorway, a tall, muscular boy with dyed silver hair, and a big shit-eating grin, as he held out a revolver as if it were a sword. While in the front yard was a girl, her own body strong and refined like steel, her hair a messy mix of a bowl cut and curls. In her own hands; a large, powerful shotgun, the barrel sawn-off, as she held it up, its weight putting little to no strain on her athletic body.

Emerald's eyes narrowed, taking aim with the shotgun, the stand-off nearing its end. "Hello, Mercury...Looks like I got unlucky to run into you this early."

**Female Student #02: Emerald Sustrai. Designated Weapon: Remington Model 870 Shotgun (Sawn-Off Barrel).**

Mercury smirked in response at her words, flicking back his hair. "Luck is bullshit anyways, Em, we both know that much. If it mattered in the slightest we wouldn't be so royally fucked right now."

Oddly enough, these words were enough for Emerald to crack a small smile. She'd be lying if she were to say Mercury wasn't one of those exceptions she had spoke of. The two had a lot in common; rough home life, a lack of respect for authority, a lot of streetbrawls, that sort of thing. And beyond that, they shared a close mutual acquaintance.

Cinder Fall. The name alone was enough to make any shitty day at least a little brighter...Though the limit seemed to be when she had a gun pointed at her face.

The two stared in silence, the atmosphere having calmed, but their guns still raised. It stayed this way for a few moments...Before Mercury placed his revolver back in his pocket, his smirk making her skin crawl as he said, "So...Want to stick around for breakfast?"

Emerald narrowed her gaze, "Perhaps...But what's stopping me from just shooting you now and removing some competition early?"

He shrugged, his smug overconfidence still resonating around him, just like how it had at school. "Because I know you won't."

She stared at him for a moment longer...Before groaning and lowering the weapon. "Dick." This simply made Mercury's smirk grow.

* * *

_An older man screeched out in pain as a boot smashed into his face, throwing him into the air before plummeting and crumbling to the ground, sprawled out across the sidewalk of the empty business district. He bellowed out a pathetic wail, his layers of fat jiggling from the force. His bushy, massive eyebrows constricted, as he barked out, "Y-You punks! D-Do you know who I am?!"_

" _Oh, we're very aware, Mister Ryoichi." A feminine voice purred out._

_His eyes enlarged as her shoe stepped down onto his hand, her long red heels digging in deep as he shrieked. A sadistic smile grew onto her face as she stood above him. She was a young girl, eighteen at most, though she had the body of a fully developed woman. She was wearing little more than a red and gold dress, one far too expensive for most, with crimson red lipstick and enough make-up to shimmer in the moonlight. Her raven hair went down to her hips, smooth as silk, while her eyes were amber in color, though hollow with emotion._

_She was Cinder Fall._

_With a low purr, she lowered herself to stare the obese sap in the eyes, raising his chin with a finger. "You see, my employer has informed me that you've been neglecting to pay him back as of recent. Usually, I could care less for the dealings of old men. But considering what he's offering me, I'm afraid I had to get involved to teach you a little lesson."_

_All this did was cause the pitiful curmudgeon to snarl, whipping his head forward and spouting off, "Oh, I get it, you're just some bitch your pimp sent to-"_

_Instantly, he found himself interrupted by a swift punch to the jaw, sending him to the ground in a lump. Pulling back her fist, a dark-skinned girl walked up, rubbing her knuckles as she growled, "What a dog..."_

" _Don't worry your little head too much over it, Emerald," Cinder cooed, using her leg to push him onto his back, where she proceeded to step on his spine, "these sorts of gents simply aren't aware of how utterly outclassed they truly are. It'd be adorable, if they weren't so appalling on the outside and out. Truly the worst this world has to offer, wouldn't you agree?"_

_Emerald simply smiled in response, though another voice scoffed, rolling his eyes as he walked up. "I don't really give a crap." He rubbed at his head, a glare set on his face. "Can we just finish this up?"_

_Cinder gave the boy a twisted smile, "Oh, poor Mercury, incapable of having a little bit of fun." He grunted in response, as she turned back to the old man, pinning him to the ground as she whispered into his ear. "Now...I hope we reached enough of an understanding. Pay back our boss for the powder you bought off him, or we'll be back. And if that happens," she giggled creepily, "we'll be far less gentle with you." She looked up. "Mercury?"_

" _With pleasure," he responded, running up to the man and kicking him across the face._

* * *

Emerald rustled a spoon around in her ration bag in silence, the solidified slop having a rather nasty texture she wasn't quite expecting. Shivering to herself, she reluctantly took a bite of the mush, twitching for a second, before swallowing with a groan. "Not exactly fine-dining."

"Yeah, but I've had worse," Mercury muttered, taking a bite of his food before looking up at her, "so...What's your plan?" She gave him a look. "For the game. Sorry, but I sorta doubt you're just running around like a chicken with its head cut off. You have to have an idea of some kind for what you're gonna do out here." Emerald went silent, looking back down at her food, as realization slowly donned upon him. "Unless...You're seriously wasting your time searching for her."

She went still, completely motionless, as her hand tightened around her fork. "It's not a waste of time."

"Yeah...Keep telling yourself that, Em," Mercury said, leaning back in chair and attempting to relax, "you get she's playing, right? No way she ain't. This sorta dark and miserable shit is the kind of thing she gets off on." She blushed a bit in response, as he winked at her, "What? Dark and miserable includes you. No reason to worry."

"Fuck off," she snapped back, a scowl settling on her face, "and besides, don't act so high and mighty." This caused the boy to tilt his head up slightly, as she stared through him. "I know you're playing too, Mercury. You can talk all you want about how she's playing, but not until you fess up that you're the same hypocritical douchebag you were back in school."

"Never claimed I wasn't playing," he simply responded, as he dug around in his bag, only to pull out a small box of cigarettes, "I just don't feel like it right now. Cinder doesn't have that though," he placed a cigarette into his mouth, "she doesn't have an off button. Anyone she sees, she's killing. May not be on sight, but they'll get taken out sooner than later." He turned his gaze over to her. "If you try and find her...She's going to kill you, Emerald."

Emerald gave him a hard look...Before shaking her head, standing up from the table and throwing her bag over her shoulder. "I'm going now, Mercury." She looked him over for another moment, sneering in mild disgust, before looking away and beginning to walk away, "Take care to not blow yourself up."

"Wait..." His voice called out, causing her to come to a stop. She glanced back, only to flinch slightly as he held out an object; a long, sharp kitchen knife. "Take this. I know you got a gun and all, but ammo ain't endless, Em."

Her cheeks flushed a bit at his words, staring down at the tool in silence. Reluctantly, she allowed herself to grab ahold of the blade, looking it over for a moment, before giving her companion a soft look. "Um...Thank you, Mercury."

"Don't mention it," the boy lazily responded, already walking back to the table he sat at, "just try and stay safe out there. I'd be kind of bummed if you came up on those announcements."

"Wouldn't that be better? You wouldn't have to deal with me, and you _are_ intending to play, correct?" She asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Sliding into his chair, he sat back, throwing his legs up onto the table and smiling to himself. "I am playing, and if needed, I'll cut you down like any ordinary bitch," though, his confidence soon found itself cracking, if only a little, "I'd just like to put that off for a while, if I can."

Emerald simply stared at her friend, her eyes wandering between him and the weapon she was just handed, as her glare softened into one of realization. With a shake of her head, she adjusted her bag, before beginning to walk out. "Good luck, Mercury...And try not to die yourself, okay?" He merely grunted, which was about as much as she was gonna get out him, as she simply walked away, a thought coming to forefront of her mind.

" _I'll find you, Cinder...Just wait for me, please."_

* * *

Cinder Fall almost couldn't believe how easy this game was. Only six hours in, and she's in the lead with kills. Of course, their lack of effort had to be accounted for, but that didn't matter too much to her. A kill is a kill, and the fact her classmates seem to be putting so little effort into this game does nothing but aid in her eventual victory, which was only made that much clearer with her newly acquired pistol.

Over the horizon, she could make out a small town, with around two dozen houses scattered about awkwardly in a grid. And in the windows of one of them, she could briefly make out what looked to be two distinct shadows, as a wicked grin crept onto her face.

Looks like she'll be going from one to three soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Ooooh, ominous. Wonder what this entails next chapter...**


End file.
